Carry On
by CommanderValeria
Summary: Sequel to Don't Leave Me. With the events of last year in the past will Lucy finally be able to have a happy life with her family and friends? Or will her past come back to ruin it?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello! First off this is a sequel story to Don't Leave Me, personally I'd suggest you read that along with it's companion story The Serpents' Kiss by animalwriter first but it's likely not necessary. There are also two short stories Christmas at Grimauld Place on animalwriter's profile and Summer at Hogsmeade on mine. Both take place during the previous two stories. If this isn't the first time you're joining me, welcome back! I hope you enjoy this first, short chapter and please leave a review!

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

It was the end of the summer and everything was in place. Invitations had been sent, responses gotten, dresses made, flowers picked out, and food ordered. Now the only things Lucy had to deal with were her ever-increasing appetite, morning sickness, perpetual sleepiness, and the invasion of her home.

A total of eight people were infiltrating her three-bedroom home; three Weasleys, four Lupins, and one Potter. She was grateful though that Bill and Fleur had taken a room at the Three Broomsticks and the rest of the Weasleys, plus Hermione, were staying with Fred and George in their rather roomy apartment over the Hogsmeade branch of Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes.

When the guests finally knocked on the door Lucy slowly unwound herself from Sirius and called, "Come in!"

Everyone bumbled into the living room. They must have all decided to arrive together. Harry was carrying Teddy, his godson, and Ron was talking animatedly with Remus and his father.

"Lucy, dear. So good to see you!" Molly gushed, "Oh, do you feel all right, dear? You look tired. Did we wake you?"

"No, no," she assured her aunt, "I just haven't been sleeping well. I'm fine, really."

"Ah, probably nerves."

"I'm sure," Lucy smiled, "Well, I thought you and Dad could have the guest room. The Lupins can have my room and Ron and Harry will be bunking in with Sirius, if that's okay?"

"Where are you going to sleep then?" Tonks asked, knowing full well Lucy and Sirius actually shared a room.

"The couch. I'm not about to send you or my aunt and uncle down here to sleep and I can't share a room with Sirius," she gave her friend a significant look. "It just makes the most sense this way."

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><p>It didn't make much sense the next morning throwing up in the downstairs bathroom after a rather sleepless night. She had taken her anti-nausea potion last night, but it had apparently worn off by this morning and there was very little left in her vial.<p>

After cleaning herself up and getting dressed, Lucy made her way out to the kitchen to start making breakfast. Slowly everyone came down and gathered around the table. Molly eventually shooed her away from the stove and took over the cooking. Lucy was grateful for the reprieve since her early start to the day was beginning to catch up with her.

"Lucy, honey, you look terrible. You should take our bed. Arthur and I will be just fine in the living room," Molly said, seeming to appear across the table from Lucy out of thin air.

"No, no. You take the bed," Lucy insisted. She was _not_ going to force her relatives to sleep in the front room just so she could get a decent night's rest. Especially when there was a perfectly decent bed not far away just waiting for her to come and visit. "But I think you're right. I'm not going to sleep well if I continue on in the living room. So I think I should move to Hogwarts early. It's not that far away and I'll be able to help Minerva take care of some things while I'm there."

"That might be best dear," Molly nodded, taking a bite of the eggs she'd prepared. "You'll be able to relax before school starts and it is only a week after all. A week after that…you'll be married." Molly looked decidedly teary at the thought of her sister's only child getting married in a week.

"Yes," Lucy grinned, "Well, if you don't mind making sure Ginny and Hermione get to Nerissa's for a final fitting, I think I'll get some things together and go on over there."

"I'll take care of everything," Molly assured her, regaining her motherly status in Lucy's life, "You just relax and concentrate on work."

"Thank you," she said, getting up and hugging her aunt from behind, "I love you."

Molly reached up and patted Lucy's cheek. "I love you too, dear."

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><p>"I look pregnant," Lucy complained, standing in front of the mirror in her Hogwarts rooms.<p>

"I hate to point out the obvious but you _are_ pregnant," Sirius said, reclining on the bed and admiring Lucy standing there in her knickers, inspecting her abdomen.

She poked at her belly, convinced her knickers were tighter then they'd been last week and that her stomach was protruding noticeably. "But I'm not supposed to _look_ it," she insisted. "You know," she said, turning to look at him and pulling on a robe, "Aunt Molly would kill you if she knew you were here."

"Well, she's hardly going to come bursting in here, is she?"

"Probably not," Lucy admitted. "We should be going though."

"Going where?" he asked, looking like he had no clue what she was talking about.

She sighed, though she really wasn't surprised. After all, she hadn't mentioned where they were going. "Poppy arrived yesterday. I thought it might be a good idea to go see her…get checked out…"

"Yeah, of course," he said, sitting up and suddenly looking concerned. "You're almost out of that potion Severus gave you?"

"Out," Lucy said, "but there's not much point in owling them now as they're going to be here within the week I'm guessing. It's not as bad as it was really and Poppy might have something to help."

Together they walked through the oddly silent halls of Hogwarts up to the Hospital Wing. This was the first time Lucy could recall being in the school when it was completely devoid of students. It was nice, but a little eerie at the same time.

When they entered Madam Pomfrey's domain she turned and raised an eyebrow, "Come to have me fix another one of your…injuries?"

Lucy blushed remembering the last time she'd been to see the healer. "No, none of that this time. I'm…well, I'm pregnant." It was the first time she'd said it to anyone who wasn't Sirius, Dinah, or Severus.

The healer had the good grace to look shocked. "Well, that's different then. Have you seen someone before now to confirm this?"

"Um, Dinah gave me a Muggle test and it said I was. Plus I've been falling asleep really easily, throwing up constantly, and if I'm not pregnant I'm very, very overdue for a period."

"Well, then come right back here," she said, gesturing first behind a curtain and secondly at Sirius, "You stay there."

Lucy reluctantly let go of his hand and followed Poppy behind the curtain. In the back of the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey asked her all sorts of questions. What was the date of her first missed period? How far along did she estimate herself to be? What symptoms did she have? The entire time she was asking these things the healer was assembling some sort of concoction. When the older woman stopped asking questions and turned around she held out the little cup of clear liquid.

"Here," she told her, "take this and use the restroom."

"I just…urinate in it? Like a Muggle test? That should be easy enough." Lucy took the cup and followed Madam Pomfrey's directions. When she came back out the potion had turned a bright shade of purple.

"It seems you are, without a doubt, a little over eleven weeks pregnant," Poppy confirmed after examining the potion.

"I know. I told you that," Lucy said, a little annoyed with the healer.

Madam Pomfrey ignored her, "You're a few weeks overdue for your first prenatal appointment, but as far as I can tell everything seems to be in order."

"Seems to be?" she asked, starting to worry.

"Yes. There's no reason to worry. I'll need to brush up on this bit of medicine; seeing as I'm a school healer I haven't had to deal with a pregnancy in quite some time. I assume," she said, giving Lucy a pointed look, "you don't want anyone to know until after the wedding?"

"Yes. It's September 4th. We moved it up when we found out."

Poppy nodded, "All right. That should give me enough time to refresh myself on where you need to be appointment-wise. I want you in here that next week."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I…I wasn't sure what to expect and I feel more comfortable having you do this than going to St. Mungo's and dealing with a healer I don't even know."

"You're welcome. Was there anything else you needed?"

"Um, I have morning sickness. A lot. All day. Do you have anything that will help? Dinah and Severus know about the baby and he had given me some potion he made up, but I'm out of that now and it's only a week until school starts. It just seems silly to owl them for a potion he'll be around to brew in a few days, but I can't be throwing up all the time."

"Of course not," she said, turning to her closet and pulling out an orange, smoking potion. "Here you are. Take it once in the morning and once before bed and you should be fine."

"All right, thanks," Lucy said, hopping off the table and exiting the Hospital Wing with Sirius. "Everything's fine," she told him. "Now let's go out and see what Aunt Molly has in store for us today."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was a gloriously sunny day, the last one before the students arrived Sunday, and Lucy was spending it lying on the grass in front of the Main Entrance. It was wonderfully warm and just the right temperature for an unplanned nap.

"Lucy? Lucy?" a feminine voice asked, gently nudging her shoulder.

"Mmm," she moaned, rolling over on to her back and cracking open an eye. "Dinah?"

The other woman didn't have time to answer before Lucy rushed over to the bushes beside the stairs leading up to the front doors of Hogwarts to be sick.

"Oh no," she heard Dinah say, and then footsteps hurrying over to her; "Are you all right?"

Lucy took a moment to compose herself before looking over to see Dinah standing next her, broom in hand. "I am now. Poppy's potion doesn't work quite the same way Severus's does," she said, nodding at the man standing a bit further off, also holding a broom. "I'm not ever nauseous, but I throw up without warning now."

"She gave you the Numbing Potion, then," Severus said, walking over to them. "Orange and steaming, correct?"

"Yes," she nodded, doing her best to clean up. "I saw her earlier this week and she gave me that when I mentioned I was out of the one you gave me. The morning sickness _has_ gotten better though. I'm actually starting to gain weight. You should have seen me a few weeks ago. I didn't weigh myself but I'd swear I dropped three or four kilos."

"Gaining weight is good, I guess," Dinah smiled, her hand drifting to her abdomen, which was so flat Lucy began to feel envious; "Not much has happened to me yet one way or another."

Lucy glared at her friend and attempted to tease her, saying, "Oh, don't you start. I've already got a…pooch and things just aren't fitting like they used to."

"I'm sorry," Dinah said with a sad face, although she didn't' really look _completely_ sorry. "Well, it's probably only because my eating isn't out of control yet, thanks to the fact that I still keep being 'not hungry' at random times. When it lasts, the appetite stimulant helps. Still tastes awful, though," she grinned.

Lucy sighed. She shouldn't feel _too_ sorry for herself. After all, at least she wasn't forced to take an appetite stimulant. "That's too bad. It's a shame sugar won't improve the flavor. So are you two just arriving then? Minerva's been here for two weeks. Filch is, of course, always here and, though I haven't seen her, I suspect Sybill is up in her tower."

Severus nodded; "Just arriving. Need time to settle in with all of the animals before the students arrive, especially given that we have a snake this time." He didn't look or sound especially thrilled about anything that had to do with animals.

Dinah hid a little smile and then turned to Lucy, smiling more easily; "So, what brings you here this early?"

"My house has been invaded by Weasleys and Lupins. Don't get me wrong I love them dearly," Lucy said, walking with the Snapes up into the castle, "but they're everywhere, all the time. Between Aunt Molly telling me how 'terrible' I look and trying to hide the fact that I'm pregnant…It was just easier and more comfortable to move in here."

"That makes sense," Dinah agreed. "So, how was the rest of your summer? Your letters have been wonderful, but I'd love to hear about it all firsthand."

Lucy took a deep breath, "The best. We stayed a couple weeks at Grimmauld Place with Harry and Ron. Shopped for all sorts of wedding things. I told you we went back to that flower shop? The lady looked at me and actually _told_ me I did not want foxglove in my bouquet and that it was doubtful I'd want it in anything at all. Ron and Harry are sleeping in the rooms you guys stayed in so no worries about me waking them up being sick. Oh, and did I tell you I managed to buy a pregnancy book at Flourish and Blotts? Bernard was so funny. He kept pointing out all sorts of books I'd want…which I did, but I couldn't get them all. I ended up having to tell him I was buying the book for a friend of mine who was pregnant."

"Then I expect the book as a gift as soon as possible," Dinah teased.

"You can have it as soon as you come get it from my rooms. I promise," Lucy grinned. "Well, really I can bring it to you. It's no big deal. So," she said, walking down the dungeon stairs, "we need to figure out how your parents are going to get here next weekend."

"I talked to them," Dinah said. "I thought it would probably be easiest to do the same thing they did at mine and Severus's wedding. They know how to get to that random spot, anyhow," she grinned, stopping in front of the dungeon doors. "Come on in, you can say hi to the pets. I think Godric is going through Dora withdrawal."

Lucy laughed, "All right. He'll have to wait a bit longer though since she's stuck in my rooms. She and Mrs. Norris weren't getting along…Tonks has some things planned for Friday night I think. You might already know about it though. She should have owled you…She said she did and Severus," Lucy said, leaning over to get a better look at the man, "Sirius said you're welcome to join them for the stag party." The three of them entered the dungeon rooms, Dinah and Severus with brooms still in hand.

Dinah smiled and turned to look at her husband, who smirked a little and said; "I appreciate the offer, but I doubt I'd be good company. Especially since Potter, Weasley, and half of the other Gryffindor students that I do not... tolerate well will be there. I hope he will accept a polite decline."

Lucy sat down on the couch, stroking Godric when he leapt up into her lap. "I'm sure he will. Truthfully he didn't expect you to accept; not with Harry, the Weasleys and Remus there anyway."

"I figured," Severus said, taking Dinah's broom as his wife settled onto the couch next to Lucy. He placed both brooms against a wall near the closet and came to sit in a chair across the way, regarding them; "The request was made more out of politeness than out of any desire to actually have me there, no doubt."

Lucy frowned; that sounded kind of…sad. "I don't think he would have offered if he didn't want you there."

"Ah," Severus nearly smiled at that. His lip twitched slightly and Dinah was definitely smiling. Neither of them looked particularly worried about his earlier statement, though; "Well, I suppose that's pleasant enough. You could thank him for me, if you wanted to. Still, what I meant was that I'm sure he realizes that I would not be a pleasant fixture at such an event. I most certainly wouldn't add to anyone's enjoyment of the party, and am fine with that. Sirius surely knows the same."

"Yes, most likely," Lucy said, feeling better now that she was assured Severus wasn't upset. "Well," she sighed, "I've got to go see Madam Pomfrey, head into town for dinner with the family, and hopefully not throw up. You're welcome to join me, even if you want to skip out on the dinner. If nothing else Nerissa would really like Dinah to pop in sometime before Friday."

"Well, I should at least go see Madam Pomfrey," Dinah admitted, watching Severus out of the corner of her eye. The other man nodded, looking satisfied. Lucy recalled he had been rather insistent over the summer about Dinah seeing Madam Pomfrey as much as possible and Muggle doctors as little as possible. "And I'm sure Severus will want to come with me the first time, so if you don't mind we'll follow you that far at least."

"Not at all. I can even grab that pregnancy book for you on the way. It'll help ensure Aunt Molly doesn't find it," Lucy said, standing and upsetting Godric who ran towards Severus to paw at his robes. "So, how did your parents take the news? Or haven't you told them yet?"

Severus scowled and Dinah giggled; "My parents were wonderful and thrilled and everything went swimmingly. Aunt Mildred, on the other hand, positively attacked us in her joy. I think we might have some mild bruising from her hugs. Needless to say, my husband over there is _not_ looking forward to seeing her again this weekend."

"An epic understatement," Severus agreed, using his wand to play with Godric.

Lucy laughed, "If you're done playing with…Cat, then I think we can go. Unless you'd like to wait a bit and settle in more?"

"Oh, well, let me go just give the place a once-over and make sure everything was delivered properly. And ask Slinky if he's settled in okay," Dinah stood swiftly and Godric left Severus to follow her over to the glass cage against one of the back walls. "Oh!" Dinah exclaimed, whirling around suddenly to grin at Lucy; "Watch this!" She turned back and hissed a bit before letting the greyish corn snake crawl onto her arm. She turned back and lifted her arm up so that she was staring straight past the snake at Lucy and Severus, who was giving her an indulgent smile. Proudly, Dinah said; "Now I've practiced long enough to be able to sometimes-" the rest came out in a series of hisses and then she replaced the snake before saying, hopefully; "Well? Did it come out?"

"Part of it!" Lucy said, excited for her friend. She'd come a long way in her control of using Parseltongue. She looked Dinah up and down, "I know robes are very concealing, but I refuse to believe you are farther along than me. I mean look at this!" She flattened her robes over her abdomen, revealing what she was sure was an obviously pregnant body.

Dinah stopped beaming about her parselmouth success long enough to raise an eyebrow at Lucy; "And what is it that I'm looking at here?"

"This," Lucy said, poking the offending area, "You don't look pregnant at all while I…" she trailed off, now gesturing at her stomach.

Dinah laughed; "I don't really see much of anything, but I can prove to you that I am indeed pregnant." She disappeared into the bedroom.

What in the heck was Dinah up to? "Proof?" she said, turning on Severus, who was still poking his wand at Godric, "What is she talking about?"

"Oh, she's going to get the stubby mandrake picture," Severus said casually as Godric tried to bite his wand in two.

"Stubby mandrake?" Lucy muttered to herself. Clearly Severus wasn't going to be any help. "Dinah?" she called, "Your husband isn't making much sense."

"Severus!" Dinah chided, laughing as she came back into the room holding some sort of envelope; "Are you calling our child a stubby mandrake again?"

"Yes," her husband agreed amiably.

Dinah continued to laugh as she approached them; "I'm afraid I've started falling into the nickname too. Poor kid is going to be traumatized when it's older."

"Why in the world would he call the baby a stubby mandrake?" She was beginning to worry her friends had taken simultaneous blows to the head or something.

Dinah smiled as Severus stood from his chair and shooed Godric away before joining them. She opened the envelope and handed an image to Lucy; "These are the ultrasounds I was telling you about over the summer and in my letters. They took a picture for us."

"Oh," she said, taking the black and white picture. The wavy lines on the picture where nearly making Lucy dizzy and she couldn't have picked out what was baby and what wasn't if she tried. "Dinah, I'm sorry, but I don't see anything."

Dinah laughed, but didn't seem offended. "Oh, you magical folk! Here," she pointed to a round thing; "That's the head, and the body connected to it. And those little round... 'stubs', I guess, to stick with the current popular terminology, are its limbs. Now do you see it?"

"Yes!" she tilted her head a little, "I guess it does look like a stubby mandrake, but…it isn't moving. It's okay, isn't it? Aren't babies supposed to move?"

Dinah covered her mouth, giggling again, and Severus rolled his eyes a little, but looked amused. "Come now, Lucy. You've seen enough Muggle pictures by_ now_, haven't you?" said the former.

Lucy blushed, "I suppose I have. I swear, I'm getting so scatterbrained, more than normal. Anyway, when do you think I could get one of these?" she asked, pointing at the 'stubby mandrake'.

"Well, I got mine just before we came here, so by mid to late September I think you could surely do the same. We'll coordinate it with my doctor somehow and it'll be an adventure! We'll make it a weekend trip for the four of us! It'll be great!"

"If you say so," Severus muttered, taking the envelope and picture from Dinah, and smiling slightly at the image before putting it back in its protective holder.

"It will be I'm sure!" Lucy enthused, "I've been to your house a couple times, but I've never _stayed_ there. Assuming we'd be staying there that is. Grimmauld Place _is_ always an option but Ron and Harry are staying there so…"

"Of course we can stay there. It'll be fun! Oh, and speaking of pictures!" Dinah jumped up and scrambled off into the bedroom again.

"Now what?" she questioned Severus. Her friend was being as scatterbrained as Lucy felt.

"This is nothing," Severus tossed off, watching for his wife's return; "You should see her do the stairs at home."

"I'm not allowed to hurry up the stairs," Lucy grinned, reminding them of their summer visit and how Sirius had refused to let her carry a bag to the beach.

"I couldn't stop her even if I wanted to," Severus smirked, just as Dinah burst back out with a small box.

Placing the box on the table, Dinah waved her wand and a bunch of wedding pictures floated out, some moving and some not, to find their way to places on the walls. She stared at the current configuration, shook her head, and then adjusted it until she was satisfied.

"Finished?" Severus raised an amused eyebrow.

"Yes," Dinah beamed, picking another image up out of the box; "I just wanted to drop this one off in my office on the way." She handed the last framed photo to Lucy; "Look at what Severus has consented to let me put on my desk."

"Aww, it's cute," Lucy squealed over the Muggle picture Dinah had shown her last year. It was during their youthening and Severus had his arms wrapped around Dinah; both were smiling at the camera. "Are you ready to go then?"

"Yes," Dinah took Severus's arm, "Let's go."

They took a winding route up to the Hospital Wing, stopping first at Dinah's office and secondly at Lucy's rooms. Dora was miffed she wasn't allowed to snuggle the new arrivals, but she'd be thrilled later on when she was reunited with Godric.

When they entered Madam Pomfrey's territory, she looked at the group and asked, "All right then, Lucy. I want you on the scale. According to the mediwitch I talked to I need to be monitoring how much weight you're gaining."

Lucy pulled a face, "Tons."

Poppy smiled indulgently, reading the scale after Lucy stepped on it, "Well, you seem to be back up to where you said you were pre-pregnancy."

"Oh, that sounds good," Dinah said. "I bet my weight hasn't changed at all."

"Your weight? What does your weight have to do with anything?" Madam Pomfrey asked, looking confused.

Severus smirked a bit and Dinah blushed, raising her hand a little like a student would; "Um... well, I'm also pregnant."

"You…this is turning into a nursery," Madam Pomfrey sighed.

"Sorry," Dinah looked even more sheepish.

"What are you apologizing for?" Severus demanded, causing his wife to shrug.

"Nothing," Lucy said, stepping off the scale, "She's just being polite."

Dinah nodded shyly; "What do you want me to do?" she asked the healer.

"Follow me," Poppy said, heading back towards the bed where she'd first examined Lucy earlier in the week. "You too," she motioned for Lucy to follow them, "Unless it makes either of you uncomfortable?"

"It's fine with me," Lucy agreed. After all, Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be doing any sort of internal examination.

"Me too," Dinah agreed, and she, Lucy, and Severus headed back behind the curtain to that bed. She noticed Severus hadn't been ordered to stay on the other side of the curtain like Sirius had. It was sort of irritating, but maybe it was the whole 'not married' thing cropping up again.

The girls sat on the bed while Severus hovered behind Dinah. Poppy hardly said a word as she mixed up a potion Lucy recognized. When it was done she handed it to Dinah. Before the healer could give her instructions though, Lucy piped up, "You know what to do with that! Same as those Muggle tests you bought."

"Ah," Dinah grinned, lifting the cup so that she could gaze eye-level at the clear liquid floating inside; "The classic pee cup, then?"

"Yes!" Lucy told her, excited that this at least was something average that she knew more about than Dinah, "If you're pregnant it turns purple."

"Fun," Dinah smiled and darted off to the lavatory.

Severus sighed, turning to the healer; "Should she be running around like that? She's been quite excitable ever since this pregnancy."

Poppy smiled indulgently at the man. It_ wasn't_ Lucy's imagination this time she was sure. Madam Pomfrey was clearly treating Severus different.

"She's fine," the healer assured the expectant father, "I'd try and prevent her from running up and down stairs and the like, though. The risk of falling is greater in that case."

He nodded; "I'll mention it. Luckily, there are no stairs in the dungeons themselves, but there are plenty throughout the school."

In a flash, Dinah was back, proudly holding the now-purple cup out to Poppy; "There you have it."

"She's pregnant, Poppy," Lucy said, looking at the cup, "It looks more purple than mine though. Are you sure it's not twins?"

"OH!" Dinah exclaimed. Severus looked a little less thrilled at the thought. "If they're twins and a boy and a girl we can name then Tommy and Tomi, maybe!"

Severus groaned and rubbed his forehead; "You're mad."

"Although," Lucy mused, thinking about that picture Dinah had shown her, "wouldn't there have been more stubby mandrakes in the picture then? Or can't Muggle doctors tell?"

"Oh!" Dinah smacked her forehead, handing the cup to the amused-looking Poppy, "Silly me, of course there would be. Lucy! You got me all caught up in the moment that I forgot!" Her indignance _was _quite amusing.

"I married a madwoman..." Severus was still stuck on that point.

"Oh, hush!" Dinah smacked him.

Lucy laughed at the pair. They could be quite amusing at times. Poppy started asking Dinah all sorts of questions. The same ones she'd asked Lucy earlier in the week, only she also weighed Dinah and a few other things she hadn't done simply because she hadn't known to do so. When she finished with Dinah she turned to Lucy and repeated the necessary procedures. In the end she prepared several bottles that she handed to both women.

"These are pre-natal potions you need to be taking. The healer I spoke with said you should have been taking them since you found out about the pregnancies but late was better then never. And do you need any more of the potion for morning sickness?" she asked Lucy the last, Dinah having told her she wasn't suffering from the ailment.

"No, thank you," she said quickly, "If it's all right with you I'd like to have Severus brew that for me. Whatever he does to it makes me not throw up. I mean the stuff you gave me gets rid of the queasiness but I'm still throwing up sporadically."

Severus nodded, showing his willingness to make the potion while Madam Pomfrey said, "If he's willing to make it for you and you tolerate it better than what I've given you then it's fine. Though I should warn you Severus there _are_ certain ingredients pregnant women shouldn't be ingesting."

"I am aware of the basics," Severus said. "I have reference books for all conditions. However, if you wouldn't mind making a list of what you put in the pre-natal potions for me I would appreciate it." He turned to his wife, "Please hold off on taking your Muggle vitamins until we determine if there will be any negative interactions when you switch to these," he indicated the bottles Madam Pomfrey had given them.

Dinah nodded; "Of course," she smiled at Lucy; "Severus has gotten so much more amiable about the Muggle versus wizard medicine thing."

Her husband sighed, "I simply don't want you to think I am trying to order you around or run your life."

Dinah smiled, nuzzling her forehead to his, "I love you."

Severus, despite Madam Pomfrey's proximity, seemed to have no problem with wrapping his arms around his wife's waist and murmuring, "I love you," back to her.

Lucy sighed. "I love Sirius," she said, sort of teasing the couple but at the same time completely serious about loving the man she was going to marry in a week.

Dinah smiled, turning from her husband just enough to face Lucy, "Well, I certainly hope so."

"Poppy, do you mind making that list?" Severus, his arms still around his wife, raised an eyebrow at the healer who seemed more preoccupied with staring at the couple.

"Yes, of course," Madam Pomfrey said, walking across the aisle to her desk.

Lucy immediately turned to her friends and murmured, "You have to tell me I'm overreacting."

"Overreacting to what?" Dinah asked, looking concerned and confused.

"Severus is back here," she said.

Dinah blinked at her husband, who also looked confused, and then turned back to Lucy; "Yes. So?"

"She didn't let Sirius come back. He had to stay on the other side of the curtain," Lucy whispered.

Severus's lip twitched into a smirk that was quite nearly a satisfied smile. At least _he_ found this amusing. "I see. Well... who are we to judge our healer's decisions?"

Dinah rolled her eyes and released her husband's waist, walking to stand closer to Lucy, "You think she's snubbing Sirius?"

"Well, I don't know," Lucy admitted, "I mean I didn't think much of it at the time, but now I wonder…Maybe I _am_ overreacting. She had to deal with him a lot when he was in school and I can only imagine the things he put her through. Then there's the whole 'not married' thing again…"

Dinah laughed; "She probably just finds him annoying, in combination with the 'not married' thing. It's just a little case of the prejudices we all have from time to time. Besides, I doubt she's brave enough to tell Severus to stay away. Oh, honestly!" she turned to laugh at her husband; "Do you think you could look a little less_ happy_ about this?"

That made Lucy giggle a bit, "Well, we'll wait and see how this goes I guess."

She didn't say more as Madam Pomfrey came back with the list Severus had asked for. "Here you are," she said.

"Thank you," he took it, still looking rather pleased with himself. "When do you want to see Dinah again?"

"In about a month. For both of them," Poppy told them, "I had Lucy come back in because I needed to brush up on pregnancy related care and to make sure he weight was coming back up. Of course you should come back sooner if there are any problems, you have concerns, or you need more supplemental potions."

"Of course," Lucy assured her, "Thank you."

"Yes," Dinah smiled. "Thanks."

Together they all exited the Hospital Wing and before long Lucy turned to the couple and said, "Well, I guess this is where we part ways. I'm off to dinner with the family…if Ron hasn't eaten it all. Hopefully I won't have to spell anymore well-intentioned 'toasts' into something drinkable."

Dinah giggled; "Then you'd better stay away from Aunt Mildred as long as possible."

"We should all stay away from her," Severus grumbled. "Enjoy your dinner. I suppose we'll see you at the Welcome Feast if not earlier."

"Thanks. I will," she said with a grin, "Enjoy settling in tonight." She waved as she headed out of the castle and towards Hogsmeade for the last family dinner before school started…probably the last one before she married too.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When she made it to Hogsmeade House Lucy was greeted by everyone preparing for dinner in the backyard.

"So, you ready for Hogwarts to start back up?" Charlie asked as they all sat at the table.

"Yes," she smiled, "I _like_ my students, Charlie. Most of them anyway and it's good to see my colleagues again too. Dinah and Severus showed up today."

"I never said you didn't," he insisted. "Most kids don't want to go back to school. I figured teachers were the same way. Then again, you always were the strange one who enjoyed going back."

"I can only speak for myself Char; others might not look forward to it."

"I'm sure Snape looks forward to coming back. Gives him a chance to take more points from Gryffindor," Bill remarked.

"Careful, Bill," Sirius warned, "Dinah might slap you if she hears you talking like that."

Lucy knew he was teasing but she wasn't sure the others did. Of course, Bill only had a vague knowledge of who Dinah even was, so Sirius's warning probably made little sense to him.

"Dinah?" he asked.

"Professor Samson. She's the new Muggle Studies professor," Ginny piped up, "and she's the fourth bridesmaid."

"She also happens to be married to Professor Snape," Molly informed the table, or those that didn't know that yet anyway.

"You're kidding?" was all Bill said.

Fleur stopped feeding Victoire long enough to look over at Lucy, "Someone married that 'orrible man? I remember heem from when I waz at 'ogwarts. 'E waz not nice."

Lucy laughed, "Well, he still has his moments but he's not that bad really. He can even be quite nice. You might be interested to know we're hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year."

"Really?" George asked, "Figures. We're finally old enough to compete and we're not there to put our names in."

"Yes, really," she confirmed.

Later on, as Lucy lay in her Hogwarts bed, she thought about how nice the dinner had been. No worry, no tension, no throwing up. She was glad she'd gotten to see everyone before she started work for the year and also for one of the last times they'd see her as a single woman.

* * *

><p>Looking around the Great Hall, Lucy noted how different the scene this year looked compared to last. The Headmistress's chair was empty. Minerva having gone to gather the new first years and escort them in to be sorted. At the other end of the table, Mr. and Mrs. Snape sat together, rather than two seats apart like the year before. Their hands were not visible above the table and Lucy thought they might be holding hands, taking care to be circumspect around the students of course.<p>

The students had also not caught their new Literature professor snogging out by the front entrance to the grounds. Lucy squirmed in her seat a bit. Though it was better that the students hadn't seen that, she was wishing she'd been able to indulge in a good snogging recently. Her hormones seemed to have shifted from emotional to…turned on. She sighed, there was nothing for it though. She was just going to have to power through. Sirius would _not_ be coming tonight or this whole week, until Friday that was.

Soon enough the doors to the Great Hall opened and behind Minerva marched in some of the tiniest first years she'd ever seen. If they kept getting smaller every year soon they'd be shorter than Professor Flitwick.

Minerva quickly explained the sorting procedure to the terrified-looking eleven-year-olds before calling up the first girl, Ava Carter, and placing the hat on her head. It sat there for a few minutes before pronouncing her a Ravenclaw. Lucy clapped for the girl along with the rest of the room. The first student of the year and she'd been sorted into Lucy's former House. It made her proud.

About halfway through the sorting, Minerva called up a Crispin Lympsham. Lucy wondered if he was any relation to one of her favorite students Derwent, a Slytherin boy who would be in his seventh year. The young Crispin was sorted into Hufflepuff before she could think much about it though and the sorting continued. It finally ended with Corvus Zarkoff being placed into Slytherin.

It was at this point Lucy realized another thing that was different from last year. The Potions professor, Slughorn, was not sitting next to her chewing her ear off. Instead, there sat Eugene Wilkins, Severus's new arch-nemesis. Slughorn seemed to be farther down the table sitting next to Professor Trelawney.

"Hello, Eugene," she said, trying to be polite. Really he wasn't as bad as Severus thought he was. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were sitting there."

"It's all right," he smiled, "I was watching the sorting. It's different than the way it was done at Durmstrang."

"Mm," Lucy murmured politely as they both turned to watch Minerva stand in front of her Headmistress's chair to give the traditional speech before the feast.

"Welcome students, old and new, to another year at Hogwarts," she started, sounding a little like Dumbledore. "We had another…interesting year last year, and this one shall possibly prove to be nearly as interesting."

Lucy sincerely hoped it wasn't as interesting, especially for Minerva's and the school's sake. She didn't think they could handle another Head of the school dying for the third year in a row.

"We have a number of exciting announcements to make this year. Some of you may have noticed the empty chair sitting on Professor Ketteridge's left. Some of you may also know that our professor is planning on getting married. What you are not aware of is that chair is for Professor Ketteridge's fiancé to use after their marriage and they will be marrying this Saturday on the grounds of Hogwarts. They wish to hold the reception for their friends and family here in our very own Great Hall. They've also expressed a desire for all of you to be allowed to attend the reception."

Lucy blushed as the students started chattering amongst themselves, some of them pointing her out to others who were either first years or hadn't taken her class.

"Quiet down, quiet down," Minerva said, motioning with her hands. "It is a very kind gesture made by both Professor Ketteridge and Mr. Black and I will expect all of you to be on your best behavior.

"The second piece of news is that Quidditch has been canceled this year. Now, I know you're all disappointed," she said, as the students went from chattering to groaning and complaining. "We've canceled Quidditch so that we might be able to put our energies into once again hosting the Triwizard Tournament. We will again be joined by the schools of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons for the Tournament. Only those who have reached the age of seventeen will be allowed to enter your names into the Goblet of Fire. I will explain how this will work more as we get closer to the arrival of our guests, but for now…enjoy you're supper," she clapped her hands and before them appeared a plethora of foods.

Lucy quickly grabbed more than she probably should have, but she was hungry for once and she was going to take advantage of it. A combination of Severus's anti-nausea potion and nearing the end of her first trimester seemed to be letting her desire for food increase…for other things too, but there was nothing she could do about _that_ in the middle of the Welcoming Feast.

She looked over to where her two friends were sitting and watched as Dinah pushed away the large amount of food she'd piled onto her plate. Severus, predictably, pulled out a vile of the appetite stimulate he'd made for his wife over the summer. Dinah pulled a face and Lucy remembered she'd complained about the taste of the potion, but she quietly took it, gulping down her glass of water afterwards to wash away the taste.

"What did Severus just give to Dinah?" Eugene asked, being more observant then he probably should be given his history with the other man.

"Um, I'm sure it was nothing," Lucy said. Both couples had agreed not to go about telling people about the pregnancies until later on, and especially not until Lucy had told her family. She didn't know how much of the staff was aware of her and Dinah's conditions, but she wasn't going to say anything until she knew who had been told and who hadn't.

"He shouldn't be giving his wife potions without checking with Madam Pomfrey first. Surely he knows that. I doubt he'd want to take risks with Dinah's well-being."

Lucy sighed, "Eugene, I've never had a problem with you, but do you really think that's the right tree to be barking up?"

"Ah, right," the other man said, a tad sheepish, "probably not."

"Oh, come now. You know very well Severus is quite skilled with potions! And you should know he would never do anything to harm Dinah."

"I know. He _is_ quite skilled. I wouldn't have asked him to help me in the lab from time to time otherwise. It's only that he seemed so secretive about giving her the potion."

"Perhaps he doesn't want every move of his criticized," Lucy said, growing a tad irritated with the man.

"Very true," Eugene conceded. "I'm sorry. I seem to be ruining your meal. You've hardly made a dent in your plate."

"Oh," she looked down at her plate to see Eugene was right. "I guess I'm not as hungry as I thought I was." And she wasn't either. The food seemed less appealing than it had when it first appeared and she worried for a brief second that she was catching Dinah's food aversions, but it passed as she continued to pick at her food, eventually finishing her dinner and retiring to her rooms.

* * *

><p>Monday morning Lucy once again was starting the year with her fifth year class. Except rather than complete unknowns to her, the students were her former fourth years. Verity Dunbar, a Ravenclaw, and Delia Sparrow, a Hufflepuff, came up to Lucy's desk just before the start of class and immediately started asking questions.<p>

Laughing a little, Lucy sent them back to their seats, saying, "Once everyone's seated I'll be happy to answer everyone's questions. We _will_ be doing some actual school work today though so don't even try to keep asking unrelated questions to get out of work."

Delia raced back to her seat and raised her hand. She waited patiently until Lucy had called on her and then her words rushed out, "Do we really get to come to your reception? Like we get to dance and take dates and dress up and eat cake and stuff?"

"Yes, of course. To all of it," Lucy smiled. "I don't want any of you to feel uncomfortable though, so you don't have to come if you don't want to, nor do we expect all of you to wear dress robes. Just…dress nice and be yourselves."

"Will you take time off for a honeymoon?" another girl asked.

"No, we've decided to put that off until a later date."

She'd barely finished answering the first question when another student asked, "Is Mr. Black going to be living here?" and on it's heels came, "Will we have to start calling you Professor Black next week?"

Lucy smiled at the thought of him living at the school with her and also of going by the title of 'Professor Black', as strange as it sounded. "Yes, he will be living here and yes, I will also be going by Professor Black. Though not to worry; I won't be terribly strict about it. It's going to take me time to get used to having that name myself. I don't expect you to take to it immediately either."

"What are you…"

"That's enough questions for now, I think," Lucy said, somewhat amazed when they quieted. It was still a mystery to her, the way most of the students simply accepted her authority. Surely they wouldn't if they knew about her stay in St. Mungo's, but they didn't and, more importantly, neither did their parents. "This year I have four books for us to read. Two of them we're going to read only sections of so we have the proper background for the stories we'll be reading. One novel is about Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, and what England might have been like had his fight for the crown been successful. Would the Statute of Secrecy still be in effect for instance? The other tale is about a wizard in the same time period, but it sticks more to the actual historical events rather than what might have been."

By the time she was halfway through her second class of the day (her seventh years, now containing two of her favorite students, Derwent and Agrona), Lucy was hearing fewer questions about her wedding reception and more and more whispers about a certain Professor Snape, formerly Samson.

She told herself she'd make it a point to see Dinah in the next couple of days to see how the students were taking it…and to tell her how they were reacting when she wasn't around. Maybe she'd see about dinner on Wednesday since Lucy wouldn't be engaging in other, more pleasurable, activities anyway.

* * *

><p>"Severus?" Dinah, sitting up in bed Tuesday morning, leaned over to stroke the hair of her pillow-clutching husband; "Going to get up for class?"<p>

"No!" he snapped, his eyes still closed stubbornly as he clutched the pillow tighter and stuffed his face into it, growling; "I'm never going to class again. Infernal students! I take points from them but they don't seem to care. I take more points, every time, yet they continue to raise their hands and ask ridiculous questions like did I _really _marry you? Is the ring real? Or is this some kind of joke? Apparently they think I'm more likely to _joke _than I am to marry you? How long have they been at this school and known me? The first years I can maybe see but everyone else? Rotten, infernal, stupid children. Useless and incompetent and asking stupid questions all day. Never going to class… staying here…"

He continued to mutter incomprehensibly into the pillow and Dinah just smiled, giving up on him as she slipped out of bed. He was normally grouchy in the mornings anyway, and this publicity they were getting from the students over their marriage had him especially out-of-sorts. He didn't like anything that disrupted the sanctity of his classroom, but she was confident he'd drag himself out of bed eventually.

She headed into the shower to get ready, thinking back on yesterday. Yes, the word of their marriage had been all over school quite a bit sooner than her prediction of dinnertime. It was more just lots of whispering rumors and general bafflement. She had gotten the same 'infernal' questions in class, of course, or at least similar ones, but she was a lot more capable of handling them than Severus. Though, granted, they had gotten annoying after a while when they began to interrupt class.

Finishing up her shower, hair, and make-up, she noted that her husband was still in bed as she walked back through the bedroom, but seemed to be stirring a little bit, though he looked no less grouchy. She didn't bother smiling at him, though, since his eyes were still shut. If he didn't hurry he was going to miss breakfast.

Yesterday had been a 'not-hungry' day with regards to her appetite, but today she felt good as she entered the dining area of the main room to see that today's breakfast was kippers and porridge. Lucy was probably not happy about such a food selection, but Dinah definitely was. She settled down at the table, finished her meal, and then headed over to the coffee table and the green couch to peruse this morning's edition of the _Daily Prophet _in the twenty minutes or so she had before classes started.

Lifting it up, she was immediately greeted by giant letters plastered across the very top of the front page reading: 'Professors Snape and Samson Marry'.

At first Dinah could do nothing but stare. How? How was it possible that the press got word of their marriage this quickly? Students must have been owling their parents the minute the rumors hit the halls. And making the very top of the front page? The major headline? She was shocked people cared that much. Should they have waited longer to make the announcement?

She only grew more annoyed when she noticed the author of the article: Rita Skeeter. Frowning, she leaned back in the couch and began to skim the article, muttering the words out loud to herself as she read; "'In a shocking turn of events beginning this fall's Hogwarts school year, the infamous Professors Snape and Samson announced that they were now a wedded couple. Professor Samson made many headlines last year with her still highly suspicious parseltongue abilities' – Aaaargh!" Dinah shouted, not finishing the sentence as her pregnancy hormones got the best of her and she slammed the paper down onto the coffee table and stood to glare and point at it; "Beetle woman, I'm going to _destroy _you!"

"What are you talking about?" a deep baritone muttered from behind her as Severus's dark robes entered her peripheral vision and her husband came to stand next to her; "Is my wife having another one of her random Slytherin-style moments of violence? Should I be concerned that you're going to hit somebody?"

"This is nothing to joke about!" she told her slightly-smirking husband.

"Oh? Well, who is it we are destroying then?"

"Mm!" she made an indignant noise and jabbed her finger at the headline.

He leaned over and lifted up the paper, frowning; "Ah. I see the students were more infernal yesterday than even I thought."

"Is that all you can say? That woman is writing lies about our personal life again!"

"I know you're frustrated, but you might have missed this part here," he pointed to the edge of the paper; "An opinion column by Alder which looks to be tempering Rita's sensationalism."

"Ah, Alder!" Dinah exclaimed, feeling a rush of sweet relief as she snatched the _Prophet _from her husband to take a look at the article. It basically said that from his experiences with them, Alder thought that they were good people, perfectly harmless, and there was no need for all of this hype, and they deserved to lead a normal, quiet life together if that was what made them happy. The kindness in the words of their reporter ally made her smile; "He's a life-saver!" Now she frowned, "Though I still don't see how all of a sudden Rita's got the big headlines again and Alder is reduced to this tiny little opinion column. Last year he seemed to be taking her over a little bit but they seem to have regressed."

He smirked, taking the paper back from her, "Yes, well, I suppose Rita's sensationalism gets too much publicity for the paper to ignore for extended periods. They are, after all, interested primarily in sales and in money. The infernal Skeeter woman's work sells."

Dinah scowled, "I don't see why. She isn't even a real writer. Uses that ridiculous 'Quick Quotes Quill'. That's the same as cheating, in my opinion. Rotten bug!"

Now her husband was smiling slightly, "Well, are you going to hex her or should I?"

She heaved a sigh. "Oh, you do it. You're better at that sort of thing than I am anyway."

Severus chucked, "I thought so." He set down the paper, "Well, shall we go to class then?"

"Oh, we're going to class now?" she teased, batting her eyelashes at him.

It was his turn to heave an annoyed sigh, "_Yes_, I am going to class." He frowned, "After all, it's not as though the published article is going to change the students' reactions from yesterday. Not much anyway, I hope."

"I hope," she agreed.

"Did you eat breakfast?"

"I did."

"Really? Enough of it?"

She laughed, "I ate a reasonable amount."

Her husband frowned, "I no longer know what 'reasonable amount' means to you at any given moment, Dinah. Elaborate please."

She sighed, but felt nothing but affection towards her husband for the fact that he worried so much about her eating habits during pregnancy. "I ate the amount of food I would normally eat when I was _not _pregnant or at least ninety-five percent of that much. Better?"

"Yes, I suppose. Good. I suppose I should have something myself before I go and face the crowd of dunderheads again."

"Probably," she smiled, leaning up to place a brief kiss on his lips. "I think I'm going to head off. Hopefully the press attention passes quickly."

"Yes," he smiled and squeezed her hand, "I'm sure it will. After all, what more can they possibly say about us that they didn't already last year?"

She nodded. "Nothing I can think of at all."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

By the time her fourth year class, and final one of the day, came around on Wednesday Lucy was ready for…well she was ready for four things but only one was going to happen for sure. Her nap. The glorious nap she'd been lusting after all day. Speaking of lusting, there was something else she lusted after too but unless she snuck off to Hogsmeade, somehow evaded her family, and begged Sirius to forget their 'no sex before the wedding' pact she doubted that would happen.

The other two things both involved food. She _was_ hungry and even though she wasn't as nauseous as before it still came and went. She never knew when to take her potion now since she'd no sooner get up and pour the potion than she felt she no longer needed it. She didn't want to eat because she was afraid if she did she'd throw up and that was the final thing she felt ready for. Only the nap was certain. The eating and throwing up definite possibilities. The other thing? Well, maybe she'd see if Dinah was having a similar problem later.

She looked up when her door burst open ten minutes before class was to start.

"Professor Ketteridge!" Jania, another favorite student of hers spurted out, clearly excited. "I didn't get a chance to thank you Monday after class but _thank you_! That was so nice of you to invite me and Tad to your wedding! Did he respond to his invitation? He said he was going to. If he didn't I'm just going to…" her face scrunched up and her fists clenched in representation of whatever it was she was going to inflict on Tad for failing to R.S.V.P.

Lucy bit her lip, reminding herself she only had till the end of class before she could nap and hopefully eat without seeing dinner again later. Smiling at her student, she assured her, "He did indeed respond. And even if he hadn't it would have been okay, Jania. I talked to Mr. Black about inviting the pair of you and he said he'd be happy to have you there. He said he's heard enough stories about you two that he feels like he knows you."

"You tell him about us? That's so cool." She looked around the room and from side to side before leaning over the desk and whispering, "Do you tell him about Septimus too?"

Lucy leaned over, answering Jania in the same whisper, "Yes, and he doesn't like him very much either, but you can't tell anyone I said that. It could get me in real trouble."

"Oh, of course not Professor," her eyes grew large as she shook her head, promising not to tell. "I don't think anybody likes Septimus really. I mean Tad says some of the older Slytherin boys do but after they all got caught cheating last year…I don't know what he's going to do. I hope he does learn to be nicer but I doubt that will happen. I think some people are just born nasty like that."

Under the desk, Lucy's hand drifted across her lap to rest just above her baby. She dearly hoped Jania was wrong. Plus, last year Septimus had been dating Melinda Dehoff from Gryffindor. They might not be dating any longer, she had no idea, but he must have had some nice qualities if someone had agreed to date him. "I think…I think it's possible for Septimus to improve on his character and change his ideals. After all, if we never changed and grew as a person then we wouldn't have character development would we? And we'd be just as boring as some of those ridiculously happy people that were in your reading from Monday."

Jania thought about that for a moment and nodded, "I think you're right. Those people in our homework were really boring. Oh!" she said, suddenly excited again, "Mum bought me this new, really pretty dress. It's silver. Is that all right? Mum said it would be, but I wasn't sure…"

Lucy laughed, "It's fine. I'm sure Tad will love it. Now, why don't you get seated since the rest of the class will be coming in soon?"

"Okay! I don't want Tad knowing what my dress looks like so I won't tell you more about it yet."

Lucy just grinned and shook her head as the girl went to grab her seat near the front of the classroom. Jania was such a fun and interesting teen. It was odd, in some ways, to remember she was probably like that once, though less outgoing for sure.

Her little talk with her favorite fourth year had Lucy more energized then he had been not long ago, but once again, by the time class had fifteen minutes left she was ready for that nap. She dismissed her class right on time, calling out their homework as they filed out, and did her best to pack up her things so she could head on over to Dinah's office.

Sadly, Dinah had class right up until dinner. Her office, though, was left unlocked and Lucy walked in, setting herself next to the desk and sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk. She pulled out the book her fourth years were reading and began to refresh herself on the plot of the next few chapters. It wasn't long though before her book was in her lap and her head on the desk. Her eyes kept closing of their own accord and eventually Lucy let them stay closed.

* * *

><p>"Lucy? Lucy?" an amused-sounding voice was saying, as something gently shook Lucy's shoulder.<p>

Lucy moaned and rubbed at her eyes. As they opened she noticed she was bent over a desk and slowly sat up. She turned her head to look over at Dinah, whose face was as amused as her voice, and all the dreams Lucy'd been having came rushing back. Her face must have looked sunburnt because Dinah chuckled. "Sorry," Lucy mumbled.

Her friend chuckled again; "You're just falling asleep everywhere these days, aren't you?" she said with a smile.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "That's supposed to be getting better, but I'm not so sure. Anyway I was wondering if you had time for me to ask you some questions about being pregnant? You're farther along than I am so I figure you might have been through this already. I mean I could always ask Madam Pomfrey, but it's really not that big of a deal."

Dinah settled down in her desk and shook her head. "No, I don't mind at all. Shoot." Before Lucy could speak, though, Dinah suddenly laughed. "Oh, this feels funny. It's almost like you're a student, but I know you're not."

Lucy giggled, waking up a bit more as time went on, "If I was I think I'd be expelled by now." She looked down and carefully put the book away before asking, "Are you, or did you, find yourself having…issues with what I'm calling sexy hormones?"

Dinah blinked, blushing a little; "Er, what exactly do you mean?"

"Um, well," her blush was not going away anytime soon that was for sure, "for the last week or so I seem to find myself turned on almost _all_ the time. The dreams that pop up occasionally are not helping either."

"Ah. Well." Dinah was blushing now, too. "I guess I kind of did, for a little. I mean, there were certainly times towards the end of the summer where I just _wanted it_, you know? On the other hand, it hasn't really bothered me that much. I mean it could still be going on a little, but unlike you I live with Severus all the time so... I mean, we do it every day anyway, so... yeah, well, you get the idea," she stared down at her desk, her face crimson.

Lucy leaned back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling, "I know what you mean. I swear Dora thinks I'm in…losing….crazy," she stumbled over the description, still uncomfortable with it. "I know it's only Wednesday but there have been times when I've thought if my family wasn't around I'd skip class and go…you know. At least I know it's normal I guess. It's yet another reason to look forward to Saturday."

"Mm," Dinah smiled. "You'll be _thrilled_ when Sirius moves in here then." She giggled, still red but seemingly a little bolder. "I guess I'll have to work extra hard to maintain whatever head start Severus and I still have on you two."

Lucy lifted her head and grinned, "Probably, because Sirius will be just as thrilled I'm sure. The constant nausea cut down on any…activities we might normally have engaged in and then with everyone coming into town…Are you hungry?" she asked, changing subjects as suddenly as her hunger arrived, "I'm starving! In more ways then one, but I'll make do with what I have."

"I think I'm feeling hungry today, yes," Dinah grinned. "I was just going to go down to the dungeons to see what Sev wanted to do for dinner, and you're welcome to come too. Be warned though," she laughed, "he's a little out of sorts today since he 'accidentally' called Mae Yates by her first name when she came to his office hours earlier."

"Oh, no!" Lucy gasped dramatically, "What is going to happen now? Perhaps you should give him detention."

Dinah laughed, "Who knows what will happen? Mae was, as I understand it, thrilled at the direct acknowledgment of his friendship. Severus is not so thrilled. More embarrassed, I think. But a detention, huh? I might just do that," she murmured, her voice a little lower than normal and her gaze somewhat... distracted. She blushed and stood from her chair, "Ah, well, let's head down then!"

"Are you sure you want me to come down? I think those sexy hormones I mentioned just showed up for you."

"Uh... well..." Dinah said, rubbing the back of her neck absently, her expression sheepish, "Let's see what Severus wants to do for dinner anyhow and go from there."

"All right," Lucy said, grinning to herself and standing. "I'm sorry if I brought it on. I know how…frustrating it can be. So, um," she said, following Dinah out of her office and trying to change the subject, "Jania's really excited to come to the wedding. Especially since she's coming with Tad. It's pretty adorable really."

Dinah smiled; "Aww. Those two _are_ quite adorable."

"I know," she said. Lucy thought about how she wished their kids would be that adorable someday, but refrained from saying it in the hall where anyone could overhear that. "They really work hard too. You know, they might be another couple students who might be good to help with your game night. Does that start soon?"

"Minerva and I decided in about a month or so, after the students have settled in a bit. And, I guess, after the hype surrounding mine and Severus's marriage dies off." She frowned, "Did you see yesterday's paper?"

Lucy shook her head, "No, I was busy in the bathroom most of the morning. Your husband's potion doesn't last through the night and mornings are the worst…not that I blame him you know. It's not his fault. I heard a bit about it from the students. I can't believe Skeeter was allowed to write something like that. It's outrageous. You'd think after all that's happened she'd be fired by now."

Dinah sighed, looking agitated and a even a little angry, "You would think."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! I hope to hear more from you guys as this story continues. Also, just because I'm excited I wanted to share that I was able to register early for Pottermore today :) Good luck to anyone else trying to register for the site :)

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

"No, no, no!" Severus growled at the dunderheads; "You are all wrong. Need I remind you that you are seventh years now and will be facing _very _challenging N.E.W.T.s in June that you must be adequately prepared for? Clearly I must. Well, that will not do. You will all get in shape for the first exam if I have to give you incentive after incentive to do so. That said, I want a sixteen-inch essay on the topic we discussed in class to be turned in on Monday. Yes, what do you want, Mr. Flint?" he snapped, calling on Amedeus Flint whose hand had just shot into the air.

"When exactly did you and Professor Samson get married again?"

"CLASS DISMISSED! GET OUT!" Severus shouted at the students, and they could not argue. He glared daggers at each and every one of them as they passed by him on their way out of the classroom. He had already taken five points from Slytherin and more from other houses for similar questions all day, and he did not want to punish his favored house a second time. Still, he had simply _had _it with the third degree about his marriage to Dinah. What did it matter to these infernal children if they were married or not? They knew nothing of their personal life anyway.

He was beginning to strongly fear their reactions when they found out that Dinah was with child. Not only that, but the papers had already been reporting less-than-kind comments about their marriage, thanks to a worthless piece of insect trash by the name if Rita Skeeter. And to top it all off, he had called Mae Yates by her first name today. Now the girl was going to expect him to do it _all _the time! He could not go back to calling her Miss Yates after this, but he was completely stricken by the fact that he had made 'friends' with the girl and directly acknowledged it to her face. It was horrifying! He was not even supposed to be friends with Slytherin students and Draco had been just barely an exception. The general consensus was supposed to be that he hated children.

Of course, when he had one of his own…

Severus groaned and slammed around the parchments and quills on his desk. There were no two ways about it. His reputation was crumbling and would only continue to crumble, and there was little he could do to change that fact. Perhaps he could salvage bits and pieces of it. Perhaps it would be just more of a… change than a crumbling. Still, it was frustrating to no end. Why could not a single year go by when everything worked out exactly the way he envisioned it? Why were these endless frustrations always present in one way or another?

Of course, he thought, half-smiling and half-smirking, the frustrations were easier this year. Even more fun, since there were no deeper problems behind them. And he had Dinah… that changed everything. A companion, an ally, someone to talk to and share affection with… and the sex every night certainly didn't hurt. It was the most ideal form of stress relief around. He only wished he had had his wife sooner. It certainly would have helped with the stresses in the war against Voldemort. And even more important, just having her by his side… and _on_ his side… _someone _on his side during those years besides the former headmaster…

Well, the past was past. Things were normal now, and that was what mattered.

"Yoo-hoo, Professor Snape!" a female voice he didn't immediately recognize came from his doorway.

He turned only to be greeted by a disgusting sight that just topped off everything else that had been going wrong this week. In her flashy green clothing and horn-rimmed glasses, there stood the demoness herself, that infernal, despicable Rita Skeeter. In previous years he would have added this appearance of his and Dinah's joint nemesis to his internal list of proofs that the universe hated him, but now he had more perspective. Still, it definitely didn't always_ like _him very much. At least by some miraculous stroke of luck, their ally Sedley Alder was standing behind the horrible woman, shooting Severus a very apologetic look.

The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor put on his most potent death glare and marched to the doorway, intent on keeping that woman out of his classroom. But he didn't make it there in time to prevent her from putting one sparkly-shoe-clad foot over the threshold. He stopped; "_What _do you want?" he spat at her.

She laughed, "Well, obviously to ask you questions about the wedding. Now, do tell me if-"

"Rita, stop!" Alder snapped, and then sighed and turned to Severus. "I'm sorry. I held her off as long as I could. The _Daily Prophet_ and Board of Governors had already given us permission to come here today to interview Professor McGonagall about the Triwizard Tournament. I got us to do that interview first, but ultimately I couldn't prevent her from coming down here."

Severus managed a curt nod at the other man. "I realize that you did what you could and that you are not responsible for this abomination in my classroom," he glared at Rita. "And for your information, Miss Skeeter, I have no comments to give you for the farces you call articles."

She simply pursed her lips and smirked. "Oh? Then perhaps your wife would be more amicable to an interview with me."

"Stay away from Dinah!" he shouted, his hand drifting to hover over his wand just in case he needed it.

Skeeter's expression did not change. How is it that this woman was so immune to him? She was only one of two people he knew – besides Dinah – that did not flinch underneath the glare he was currently giving her. And at least Aunt Mildred was ultimately a harmless old woman. This reporter… not so much.

She gave a cold laugh, "Oh? Such defense! How 'romantic'. However, I doubt you'll be able to protect your precious maiden from attack. There are some local reporters here today, too, and they have all read the _Daily Prophet _and some have mentioned doing little reports on your marriage. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them haven't _already _cornered your wife for an interview."

He growled. He didn't like reporters butting into their lives at all, but at least others would be civil. "It is _you _that I want to stay away from my wife and you alone. Do you have any idea the torment you caused her last year with your parseltongue article, you insect?"

Rita flushed, just barely, at the mention of her unregistered Animagus. At least that was _something _he could hold over her. But it didn't stall her for long. She grinned wickedly. "It must be true, then. The marriage. I must say I never imagined the day I would see Severus Snape show so much caring and affection towards another person. Even if you _are _on our side as everyone insists. This will be_ wonderful_ material for my 'Scoundrel or Saint' book-"

"You are STILL of a mind to publish such a monstrosity?" he shouted; "I thought Dumbledore declared that you would do no such thing!"

"Yes, well, Dumbledore is dead, isn't he? Oh, is that the ring? Let me see it!" She lifted her hand, bony fingers outstretched towards his, and that in combination with her cold statement about his closest friend for years was enough. He'd reached his breaking point. As swift as lightning and with reflexive ease his wand was out and pointed at her neck. She gulped and took a step back and he followed. Well, now he was _finally _getting through to her. His lips curled into a snarl and he spoke, his tone menacing; "_Get out _of my classroom."

"Severus!" a much more familiar voice exclaimed.

Severus turned swiftly to face its source, but kept his wand hand outstretched in the same place, guaranteeing that Skeeter would not move. Sure enough, his wife had approached with Lucy in tow, the latter looking as uncomfortable as expected. The literature professor was not a fan of conflict.

Dinah, however, looked more surprised than anything else. Severus inclined his head slightly in the direction of Rita Skeeter, and Dinah followed the motion, realization lighting in her eyes along with recognition at who she was staring at. Her jaw set and she managed a cold; "Miss Skeeter."

"Ah, good to see you," the woman's attempt at a casual tone did not fully cover up her nervousness. "Do you think you might rescue me from your husband here?"

"Why should I?" Dinah's tone was stubborn and Severus almost allowed himself a smile. Yes, it _was _good to have her on his side. "Hello, Alder," Dinah did manage a smile at the other reporter, however.

"Hello," Alder nodded. "Sorry about this."

"Hmm," Dinah agreed, frowning.

The situation seemed to have calmed, and so Severus reluctantly let his wand hand drop, but he did not let go of the precious object. He might still need it.

Rita sighed and brushed herself off, turning her cold smile next to Dinah; "Well, if it isn't just the person I was hoping to see. Mrs. Dinah Snape."

"That's _Professor _Snape to you," Dinah growled.

"Oh?" Rita smirked. "I wasn't aware that you were going to teach me anything."

"I'll teach you-" Dinah growled, lurching forward with fire in her eyes, and Severus had the sudden realization that his wife was about to physically attack the other woman.

"Dinah, stop!" he jumped in, grabbing her shoulders, as Lucy just gaped at them.

"You got to threaten her!" Dinah protested, still looking like when she had hit Sirius that time as she struggled to get free and go back at the now apprehensive-looking reporter. No one could _ever _call his wife a meek Hufflepuff, Severus was certain.

"I did not _actually _hex her, Dinah," he tried again to calm his wife down, though this behavior was, in a way, a sort of a turn-on.

"I think," Lucy said, "Professor McGonagall might have something to say about this invasion of privacy. Or, if you'd rather, I'm sure Kingsley would be interested to hear about this."

Rita snorted, turning her glare to the second woman; "Professor McGonagall already knows that we're here and we have full permission from all required parties to conduct interviews today, Professor Ketteridge. And I have done nothing but ask innocent questions." Pretty much everyone snorted at that comment but Rita chose to ignore them. "What Kingsley and the whole world _might_, instead, be interested in, is the fact that I was just threatened by this apparently harmless parselmouth," she pointed rather rudely at Dinah.

Severus was at a momentary loss for words, his hands tightening on the shocked Dinah's shoulders as he tried to think of how best to defend his wife from this monster, when Lucy spoke again.

"If you don't immediately vacate the premises," Lucy growled, "you'll be more than threatened by this apparently harmless literature professor."

Severus pulled his wife close to him and rested his cheek against her soft hair. For a moment, after that outrageous comment, he just wanted her near him, and he didn't care any longer who saw or what they said. He kept his glare focused on Rita, though, even when Dinah sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Rita growled back at Lucy but was interrupted by Alder. "Come _on, _Rita, stop bothering them! You get threatened all the time anyway, it has nothing to do with whether Dinah is a parselmouth or not. You know perfectly well that nobody actually likes you."

Severus almost laughed at the indignant expression on Rita's face; "Fine then," the horrid woman snapped. "I simply wanted some comments on the marriage."

"What is there to say?" Severus snarled, lifting his head to more easily glare at her. "We fell in love, we got married. We live together, we work together. Normal people do it all the time and we are simply normal people. _What else is there to say_?"

"Not much," Lucy added with a satisfied smile.

Alder smiled as well and nodded. "That's what I keep telling you, Rita. Now would you please leave them alone? I'd like to go home sometime tonight, you know?"

"Nobody is making you follow me around, Alder," Rita snapped, and then that horrible smile formed on her face again. "Besides, I think there_ is_ a lot to say. 'Fell in love' you say, Professor Snape? You really spoke those words to me just now?" she had a pad of paper out.

Severus growled again; "If I did not love Dinah I would not marry her."

"Excellent! I can just see the headlines now. 'Former Death Eaters capable of love!'"

Severus's wand was out again, and so was Dinah's. Almost at the exact same time. They pointed them at the woman and she cringed under the joint threat. Ahh, yes, it _was _nice to have allies. Especially an ally as in synch with his thoughts and actions as his wonderful wife was. "I will say this one more time," he sneered. "Get out. This is your last warning or you will be hexed. I do not allow _vermin _in my classroom unless the students are practicing curses on them."

"It's no wonder so many of my students have little interest in reading with books like those you've written out," Lucy added.

Rita scoffed, backing away from their wands, "Well, I don't have to stand here and be insulted!"

"Oh?" Severus's lip curled and he imbued his words with as much dripping sarcasm as he could muster, "Would you like to sit down then?" He noticed that Dinah had started to blush slightly next to him. Oh yes, he ultimately loved the fact that his normal strict and sarcastic behaviors turned her on so much, but it _was _a bit… distracting when he was trying to do his work. He therefore tried not to be distracted as he glared at Rita.

She glared back at him. "Fine. Alder, we're leaving! I got something out of them anyway. Tomorrows article will be a good one."

"If you publish just one word about today's altercations, Miss Skeeter, I assure you that the next time I catch you wandering around this school – or any…_thing _that resembles you," he raised an eyebrow to make his point, noting that although Dinah was glaring at Rita and nodding along with him her face had turned even redder. "you will be acquainted with a new meaning of the word 'fly swatter'," he finished, now noting that Alder looked very confused.

Rita snorted and grabbed Alder by the collar of his robes. "Come on, we're leaving. Good riddance to all three of you!" she snapped at them, but he noted that she hurried away much faster than normal, dragging her harried colleague along with her.

Alder, however, managed to wrench himself loose and left Rita to storm off as he wandered the few feet back over to them. "Sorry again. I'll try to temper her as best I can over the coming days. But you might still have the local reporters to contend with."

"They'll be okay. Thanks, Alder," Dinah smiled, and Severus managed another nod at the man before he waved and headed off after Rita.

"We can always see if the Weasleys are interested in distracted the Hogsmeade reporters," Lucy offered. "They _are _good at being overwhelming and it can come in useful at times."

"If you want," Dinah shrugged. "I'm not really that worried about the local reporters. After all, like Sev said, what more can be said but that we love each other and got married like all normal people do? I'm just glad the Rita business is over with." She sighed and turned to Severus, her eyelids lowering a bit before she spoke in a voice he could only describe as 'sultry'. "Well played, darling."

He kept his feet firmly planted on the floor, but he wanted to squirm. Instead, he cleared his throat. "Yes, well, she's gone, that's the main thing," he inclined his head towards Lucy, the guest that was still present.

"Oh," Dinah blushed and turned to her friend. "I think after all that I'm having a 'non-hungry' day after all. Do you mind getting dinner on your own?"

Lucy grinned and shook her head, "No, not at all. I know _exactly_ how it is, remember?"

Severus repressed a groan when Dinah giggled and nodded. Those two were _always _having conversations about sex without his permission. Pregnancy probably made it worse, if the get-together over the summer was any indication.

"Ah, yes, I do recall," Dinah was saying with a grin. "Thanks."

"No problem," Lucy said with a slight wave as she exited the room.

Dinah turned back to smile at him, and Severus managed a smirk. "Well, was it good for you?" he asked, keeping his voice in the silky low monotone she liked so much and raising an eyebrow for good measure. After many months of experience, he knew how to milk this for all it was worth. Not that it wasn't already easy, since it came so naturally most of the time.

She laughed, low and flirtatious, and nodded, "I would say so, yes. You are exquisitely talented, as always."

Her words were as tempting and flattering as they always were, and he softened his next smile into a smirk as he reached his arms around her slight waist, pulling her to him, "Well, I'll admit that I also enjoyed your little… ah… 'display' back there."

She laughed again and it sounded like music. "Yes, I even surprised myself with that. Well," she murmured, her hands crawling up his chest to finger the buttons on his frock coat as her eyes glinted. "Shall we be vicious together, then?"

"I would like nothing more," he purred, tilting her chin up towards him and letting his lips land on hers. She was quite obviously ready, her tongue entering his mouth within seconds of the contact. He wondered again how he had gone so many years without this, but tossed aside the question as their kisses increased in fervor. When they had to release each other for air he found himself smiling. He was pretty good at keeping up the act but sometimes he could not help but smile due to the fact that she made him so happy.

She laughed, looking as blissfully happy as he was. "We have all night. Let's just ignore those local reporters, shall we?"

"Of course. There is nothing they need to know, anyway." He had no desire to let her go as they made their way the short distance to his office and their rooms. Well, really, he _couldn't _let her go from her spot in front of him, since students might pass in the hall and he was no longer… presentable. But it was not the first time this had happened and it would not be the last.

By the time they made it to their bed his entire outlook on the world had changed, like it always did when he was around his wife. His other frustrations seemed small and insignificant and he was one-hundred percent certain that the universe did not hate him.

After all, Dinah loved him, and she was his whole universe.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Just wanted to let you all know I'll be out of town for a couple days so there'll be a break in posting. But no worries I should have another chapter for you all by Monday or Tuesday.

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

Lucy stared at the potion Severus had so kindly made for her as it sat up on the bathroom sink and she rested on the floor. She'd mostly stopped using it during the day, but in some respect she dearly wished it would work through the night since vomiting first thing upon waking had become a daily ritual for her.

At least the sexy hormones seemed to have left her alone for the night and the morning too obviously. There was nothing sexy about throwing up. She sighed and leaned back against the wall. Last night had been…interesting. Mostly in regards to Rita Skeeter showing up and trying to interrogate the Snapes.

Honestly that woman could be so troublesome. Lucy had a hard time imagining her in _any_ of the school's houses. Dinah had proven herself more than capable of handling the reporter though. Lucy had been extremely worried someone actually _would_ get hexed. Though if it came right down to it she wouldn't have been above doing it herself.

She could only hope that despicable woman would leave well enough alone. And leave her wedding alone too for that matter. As she understood it 'to be Black made you practically royal'. From what she'd learned over the years the Black family was considered to be the most noble and pure. Above families such as the Malfoys even. There'd been a time when the name Black was not going to be passed down, and among the pure-blood elitists your name and continuing the family line was everything. This marriage would be continuing a legacy or whatever. It didn't matter much to Lucy if people thought that way. She knew neither herself nor Sirius would be doing this if they weren't in love and ready for such a commitment.

She could see where some might think it newsworthy though. Sighing again, she stood up and brushed her teeth before summoning some dry toast. It would be the only thing she'd be able to stomach just now anyway. Just a couple more weeks and she could be officially pregnant. Of course in two days Sirius would be living here and able to help her out a little. Just two more days and she'd be a wife.

* * *

><p>"Sorry," Lucy muttered, embarrassed as she came out of the Snapes' dungeon bathroom following their last Friday class. "I swear I haven't been having this problem in the evenings. I'm sure the nerves aren't helping." She looked over at Dinah sitting on the couch with her husband, "Be very happy you weren't pregnant and planning a wedding. It's slowly becoming a form of torture."<p>

"Aww," Dinah offered her a sad face, "I'm sorry. Plus, you're wedding is much more complicated than ours was. If you need any extra help just let us know."

"Thanks," Lucy smiled, "but seeing as the wedding is tomorrow I think we're all set. Of course your participation in the rehearsal would be good. I think Sirius is sort of counting on you to make sure I get there without any major breakdowns or anything."

Dinah smiled. "He worries too much. Why would you break down at such a happy time?"

"Oh, well, I had a little one," she put up a hand with her thumb and index finger close together, "about Mum not being here. I keep trying to explain to him that the hormones just make everything ten times more dramatic than they normally would be but I don't think he quite gets it."

"Start getting hungry one minute and not hungry the next and he'll get it," Severus muttered, barely flinching as Dinah elbowed him.

Lucy giggled, "Maybe. Well, we should probably be going if we want to eat at a decent time. We're going to be out…rehearsing the wedding while the students are at dinner so we'll be having the dinner all together in the Great Hall after. You're coming to the rehearsal, aren't you Severus?"

"Yes, to watch, I suppose, though it will be brimming with Weasleys," Severus replied. "I trust you will not mind if I don't say much."

"Of course not," Lucy said, "Though I expect you'll have a lot to say when you see who Dinah's walking partner is."

Dinah looked curious and Severus frowned; "Who?" demanded the latter.

"Will it make you feel better if I assure you it's not Harry?" Lucy teased.

"Yes," Severus growled, grasping his wife around the shoulders and clutching her possessively to him. "I refuse to allow the Potters to steal this one from me."

Dinah giggled, tilting her head to address her husband. "Severus, darling... I'm yours. You don't need to worry."

"Well, even so," he grumbled, not loosening his grip.

"Harry's practically engaged anyway," Lucy said, waving her had dismissively as they started walking out of the school and down the path, towards the spot where she would be married tomorrow, "Besides, that still leaves you with two Weasley's and a Lupin to choose from."

"The selection pool is unattractive, I'll admit," Severus grumbled.

"Oh, relax," Lucy said. "She's walking with Charlie. It's Tonks and Remus, then Ginny and Harry, Dinah and Charlie, finishing up with Hermione and Ron. I wanted Dinah to come after Tonks but that would have meant pairing her with Harry and Sirius pointed out that wouldn't be good for anybody's health."

Severus nodded grimly, and then sighed; "So, that Weasley troublemaker then, is it? I suppose it makes sense that he's your relative, in that case," he almost smiled at her.

Lucy laughed at that. Troublemaker was Severus's favorite nickname for her. "Well, Charlie and I have always been close and I'm only a month younger than him."

"Yes, I recall, though you were thankfully much quieter than him in those days," Severus said, frowning. "He's nearly as bad as those twins. However, I suppose he's a better choice than Lupin. I think the other Weasley would have been the best choice, however, as he is quite a bit younger and I find it nearly impossible to take him seriously."

"Oh, honestly, Severus, do you have to keep insulting everyone?" Dinah laughed at her husband, and then turned a smile to Lucy. "I've never met Charlie. I'm sure he's a very nice young man."

"I like him. He can be a bit of a jokester, but he's not any worse than me or Bill and definitely nowhere near as bad as the twins, so don't…" she broke off as they rounded the corner and she saw a familiar red-head. She could see the remnants of a burn on one of his hands, but he looked just the same as he ever did. "Charlie!" she squealed as she ran over to her favorite cousin.

Lucy jumped up into his open arms as he lifted her for a hug. "There's my girl," he said, grinning.

"Come on," she said when her feet were on the ground again, "I want you to meet you're walking partner."

"I see how it is," Sirius said, coming up beside her and wrapping his arm around her waist, "Charlie comes around and I get no attention."

Lucy rolled her eyes at him, "You get plenty of attention." It took only a moment to make their way towards a curious-looking Dinah and an annoyed-looking Severus.

"Charlie, this is Dinah Snape. Dinah, Charlie," Lucy introduced. She knew Charlie and Severus already knew each other so she figured no introduction was necessary.

"So, this is your wonderful friend who you gave my spot on the bridesmaids list to?" Charlie grinned.

"Yes, but I'm sure we can still get you a dress if you'd like," Lucy teased back.

Dinah laughed, extending her hand; "It's very nice to meet you, Charlie."

Severus, on the other hand, was scowling; "This is my wife you are escorting, Weasley. I trust you will conduct yourself properly."

"Oh, honestly, Severus," Dinah repeated her earlier statement, chuckling, "Give the man a chance to say hello first."

"Nice to meet you too, Dinah," Charlie said, shaking her hand. "Now, Professor Snape you'll have to watch calling people Weasley. We're all here you're likely to get nine people answering you."

Severus growled, "Do not tell me what to do, Weasley," he said, ignoring Charlie's statement. "There is nothing else that I can call any of you, and I am certain that if I speak to anyone they will _know _to whom I am referring." Lucy had a feeling Severus was completely 'anti-first-name' this week due to the apparent incident with Mae Yates.

"All right, Professor," Charlie said, backing off. "I guess we should get the show started, huh?"

"Show?" Lucy repeated, raising an eyebrow, "You are a horrible man Charles Weasley."

"But not so horrible you'd middle name me," he smirked.

"Oh, really? Charles…"

"It doesn't matter, the wizard's not here yet anyway," Sirius interrupted.

"I don't understand," Dinah blinked, looking confused as she stared at Lucy. "What did he say wrong?"

"He called my wedding a show, like we're going to see a play or a film or something," Lucy frowned at her cousin, knowing he was only teasing her.

"Oh," Dinah blushed and Severus gave his wife an amused look. "I just thought it was a common phrase."

Lucy stopped frowning at Charlie to look at Dinah, "It probably is. He's just trying to be annoying and I'm letting him succeed." Looking around at the organized chaos that was the Weasley family, she sighed. She was used to it but she wondered if the hormones were making it irritating. "You know," she said to Dinah, "Maybe Aunt Mildred should have come a day early. Then she could have organized us."

Dinah giggled. "If you had asked, she would have come."

Sirius groaned, "No, that's all right. The interrogation last time was bad enough."

"Aunt Mildred?" Charlie asked.

"Dinah's aunt," Lucy told him, "She probably won't bother you much because you aren't engaged or dating or anything."

"Except to demand to know why," Dinah chuckled. "But you have my permission to ignore her. _Not you_!" she turned to address Severus, who had opened his mouth looking hopeful.

Her husband scowled.

"Well," Charlie drew out, blushing.

"Ooooh, that's right. You did mention something about a new recruit in your last letter. Violetta I believe her name was," Lucy grinned.

Charlie's only response was to blush more and stare at the foot that was digging a hole in the ground.

Sirius, perhaps in an attempt to take some heat off her poor, embarrassed cousin, finally looked to the other couple and said, "How was your summer? I wasn't trying to be rude but the Weasley's can be rather overpowering, you know."

"Try teaching them for tens of years straight," Severus muttered, but looked surprisingly amiable as he addressed Sirius. "Our summer was satisfactory. And yours?"

She saw him glance sideways at her before replying, "Not much different then it was when you visited. Though a little more hectic with planning a wedding and all."

"I'm sure," Dinah smiled. "Well, once all this is over you'll get to relax. Enjoy married life like we did."

"Hm, yes," now Severus was smiling slightly. "I'm sure you'll find it enjoyable. We did nothing drastic over the summer but the companionship in normal life is nice."

"Yes, and summer gives you lots of opportunity to work on projects! Severus invented three new potions and a spell!"

"Yes, and Dinah continues to plan for all of her ridiculous game nights and surveys and general 'let's love everybody' projects while I sit back and say 'yes, dear.'"

"Oh, you!" Dinah swatted at her husband.

"And then she hits me," Severus finished.

Lucy giggled, "That's what it's been like planning the wedding. I ask him his opinion and he says, 'whatever you want'."

"And then she hits me," Sirius said, repeating Severus.

Severus smirk-smiled, "There is, unfortunately, no marriage guidebook that warns men about that it seems. You're sure you want to go through with this, then?" he backed off, dodging as Dinah went for him again.

"Yeah, I think so," Sirius grinned, kissing Lucy for the first time in a week. Unbeknownst to him her hormones were becoming active again and it only took a moment for them to be poked at from both sides.

"Hey, none of that with Mum and Dad watching. It's hardly decent for me to be watching," Charlie said.

Dinah giggled, lowering her hand from where it had been tapping Lucy's shoulder. "Oh, I think you deserve a_ little_ bit of that, but you _should_ save some for the rehearsal."

Severus chuckled, slipping an arm around his wife's waist while Charlie gaped at the surprising - to him at least - gesture. "Sirius is right, though. It _is_ worth it." He and Dinah exchanged smiles.

"Sorry," Lucy blushed looking at Dinah, "It's just…well, that thing we discussed earlier."

Dinah grinned and winked at Sirius. "You don't know what you're getting into."

Sirius grinned and was about to say something but Molly interrupted him, calling, "Mr. Bole is here and ready to start."

"Oh!" Dinah grinned, turning and waving at the wizard who had performed hers and Severus's marriage ceremony in May. "It's Bole! He's great."

"Yes, he came highly recommended." Lucy smiled. It had actually been the way he'd handled Dinah's wedding that made both Lucy and Sirius inclined to hire him for their own.

"Now, if you don't mind," Bole said as they all joined the group, "I normally don't make my bride walk down the aisle at the rehearsal unless she wishes to. I've seen plenty of them faint, throw up, cry hysterically…It's probably better for the nerves if she doesn't have to do that I think."

"Right now, I'm inclined to agree," Lucy said, feeling a little queasy again.

"All right, then," Bole agreed, rubbing his hands together. Now that the sun was starting to sink the air was quickly losing it's warmth. "We'll have your attendants walk down the aisle, understanding of course that the bride will be coming last tomorrow being escorted by her uncle. After arriving here her hand will be placed in the grooms and the ceremony will commence, but first I think we'll have the bridal party practice their walk down the aisle. If I could have anyone not part of the ceremony please stand to either side."

The Weasleys who weren't walking down the aisle separated, half on one side, half on the other along with their significant others. Molly and Arthur though, made sure to be on 'the bride's side'. Andromeda, who had arrived in the last day or two, took command of Teddy and Anne, holding Anne and escorting Teddy over to stand on 'the groom's side'. Severus nodded at her aunt and uncle. "Molly, Arthur," he said before continuing on to stand on Lucy's side, looking at bit annoyed at being surrounded by Weasleys.

Lucy felt about ready to cry as she watched the couples come down the aisle towards her, but got distracted by Bole's excessive swatting at a fly buzzing around his head.

"A wedding in the middle of December might have been cold but at least there wouldn't have been bugs," Lucy said, as Dinah and Charlie, the third couple down the aisle reached them. She noticed Severus's face was now in a very unhappy scowl and he appeared to be muttering something. Probably profanities she was glad she couldn't hear at the moment.

They went through the motions of the ceremony. Bole hesitated over whether or not to tell them to kiss but Sirius took that decision from the older wizard when he bent Lucy back and proceeded to kiss her more thoroughly than was proper in front of her family and friends. Of course, she didn't really mind…in fact she was half hoping that was the actual ceremony and they could have their wedding night now.

When that fly that had been bugging Bole earlier buzzed past Lucy's ear they finally broke apart.

"It's awfully buggy here," Sirius said, pulling Lucy back up with him, "are you sure you want the ceremony in this spot?"

"Yes," Lucy said, swatting at him, "It's just one…bug," her eyes drifted over to Dinah as she said it, hoping she was wrong. After all, Rita was a beetle and not a fly.

Dinah shook her head, chewing on a fingernail in consideration; "I didn't see it, so I can't help you. I can only hope not. Desperately hope not, in fact."

"If it is, I'll put her in a jar without air holes this time," Hermione grumbled.

That made Lucy giggle a bit, "Thanks, Hermione but I don't think I'd go quite that far. Oh!" she gasped, realizing she hadn't introduced Dinah to everyone. She was so used to most of her friends already knowing each other that she sometimes forgot Dinah had spent time outside the wizarding world. "Dinah, come here I forgot to introduce you to everyone."

"No," Severus growled, having just gotten his wife back from Charlie and looking intent on keeping her away from everyone else.

Dinah chuckled, turning Severus's chin from where he was glaring out at his crop of nemeses so that he could meet her gaze. "Severus, if you don't stop this I am going to start calling you a psycho obsessed stalker again," she teased, lightly kissing his lips, which got everyone staring at them especially when Severus responded easily.

When she released him he sighed, "You would, wouldn't you?"

"Yes," she giggled, turning away from him as he released her waist and heading over to Lucy.

When Lucy just stared around, stumped on who to start with, Severus gave an exaggerated sigh and walked up, placing a light hand on his wife's back and pointing the other at Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur. "You've met Arthur Weasley already, but that is his wife Molly. As you know, I worked with them minimally while in the Order. My wife, Dinah," he muttered, only half meeting the gazes of the slightly older couple.

Dinah smiled. "Pleased to meet you both. Well, to see you again," she nodded at Arthur. "I've heard a lot about you both from Severus, Lucy, and Sirius. And your daughter has always been an excellent student in my classes."

"Lovely to meet you dear," Molly said, enveloping Dinah in a motherly hug. "I'm sure we've heard just as much about you from Lucy as well. And it's good to know that at least _some_ of my children can manage to behave." Fred and George groaned and buried their heads in their girlfriends' shoulders.

It was such a typical reaction from them that Lucy laughed, "That's Fred and George, Dinah. George is the one without the ear and Fred is the one who…died. George is also dating Angelina and Fred, Katie."

Dinah smiled at Molly and then next at the embarrassed twins; "Pleased to meet you," her gaze landed briefly on George's missing ear and Severus made an irritated, slightly embarrassed noise and looked away.

"Well, you already know Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny. You just met Charlie…so that leaves Percy and Audrey," Lucy nodded towards her haughty looking cousin, though he wasn't nearly as bad as before the Battle, she seriously wondered if his face just got stuck that way. "And finally, as far as Weasleys go, there's Bill, Fleur, and Victoire."

Dinah politely introduced herself to the lot as Severus was starting to look impatient and annoyed.

"Over here," she said, dragging Dinah over to Teddy whose hair was now the same shade as Dinah's and whose face looked like a duck's bill, "We have Remus, Tonks, and Teddy, who you know but might not recognize. Then we have Mrs. Tonks. She'll insist you call her Andromeda but most of the time I call her Mrs. Tonks. And this," she said, lifting the baby out of Andromeda's arms, "is my goddaughter, Anne."

"Hello again," Dinah smiled at Remus and Tonks while Severus gave a very stiff nod. "Nice to meet you, Andromeda. And Anne," she smiled indulgently at the tiny baby in Lucy's arms, reaching a finger out.

Lucy grinned as Anne tried to catch Dinah's finger. She was a fairly quiet baby; a lot like her father.

"Would you like to hold her?" Tonks offered.

"Oh, yes!" Dinah gushed, and Severus finally managed a slight smile. Lucy's friend blushed as she took the baby; "I'm going to have my own in February, so..." she shyly informed the group.

"Really? Congratulations!" Tonks said, followed by much of the same sentiment from everyone around them. Lucy worried that the mood wouldn't be quite so boisterous when they found out about her own pregnancy.

"They can be quite a handful," Remus admitted, "but I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"I can imagine," Dinah smiled down at the calm, observant Anne she was cuddling. She hesitated, and then turned to address Severus, "You don't want to...?"

"I'll wait for ours, but thank you for asking," her husband replied stiffly, looking quite uncomfortable again and actually taking a step back from his baby-clutching wife.

Dinah chuckled. She didn't look worried about his reaction at all. "I figured. Just thought I'd offer," she handed Anne back to Tonks.

"Sirius has no problem holding her," Tonks teased, attempting to pass her child to her cousin.

"I would, but my hands are full," he said, grabbing ahold of Lucy.

Tonks stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to Lucy and saying, "I know you're probably dieting and whatever but you have one friend who just had a baby and another who's pregnant so I think we should go eat."

"All right," Lucy sighed, "the students should be out of the Hall by now anyway and I find I'm currently hungry too. Though I refuse to eat too much since I know you sent a bunch of junk food to my room."

"Junk food?" Dinah questioned, not looking stimulated by the mention of food at all. In fact, she looked quite uninterested.

"Well, yeah," Tonks said, looking a little embarrassed, "isn't that what people normally serve at this sort of thing? I _knew _I should have owled you about it."

"Oh, you mean for the hen party!" Dinah realized, nodding. "Yes, junk food is fine. I don't know that I'll eat much, though..."

"You had better," Severus frowned, taking his wife's arm. "We'll wait it out at first. Perhaps you will be hungry again when we reach the Great Hall."

As everyone made their way back up to the school Sirius held Lucy back for a moment. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, pulling his head down so she could whisper in his ear, "I've just been incredibly turned on _all_ week. So I should probably. Stay. Away. From. You." She punctuated each of her last words with little kisses.

Sirius chucked, "But that's not going to happen, is it?"

Lucy grinned mischievously, "I doubt it."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hello again all! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I just wanted to let everyone know before they started reading that this chapter is about Lucy's hen party. There's nothing to explicit in it and any insinuations are appropriate for a T rating I'm sure. Next chapter the wedding! Or at least part of it :-p

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

"Couldn't take it anymore?" Dinah chuckled as Severus hurried her down the halls towards the dungeons and away from the Great Hall. He had sat them at the far edges of the table at dinner and been very quiet and rushed through his food. When her appetite hadn't come back by the time everyone else had started eating he had given her the horrible-tasting appetite stimulant and she had eaten a reasonable amount due to its effects. Now she had to grab the gifts before returning for the hen party.

"It was like the Order days. Surrounded by Weasleys and people from the past. Yes, I've had enough," Severus grumbled. "I don't need that any more."

"Well, it's just one more day. You can handle it. Then it's back to our normal, peaceful quiet life," she assured him as they entered the dungeons and she ran to get the little package that she had wrapped for Lucy from the coffee table.

Severus just stared at it apprehensively; "You're really going through with it? You are really buying her packs of_ those_ for her hen party?"

Dinah giggled; "Yes, I a_m_ buying her packs of _those_. She was going on and on about them over the summer. Was curious. And these are the kinds of gifts you do at hen parties."

Severus sighed, "While I'll admit the kiwi knickers were quite satisfying, do _not_ think you are _ever_ going to get one of those on me!" he pointed menacingly at the innocent-looking package.

Dinah couldn't help but burst into laughter. "I don't think so. Calm down, silly. And I highly doubt Lucy and Sirius will want to use them again, either. She was just so curious about it that she really wants to try them just once."

He rolled his eyes, "That girl is like a child sometimes."

"Oh, come on! She has a healthy curiosity about the Muggle world like most wizards do. You would as well if you weren't Mr. Disdainful."

"Yes, well," he sighed, "I also already know enough about said world. Well, I hope she enjoys her 'experiments' I suppose."

"I'm sure she will," Dinah grinned, kissing her husband and then turning the package over in her hands. "Now it's time to go and see."

* * *

><p>Lucy smiled, holding hands with Sirius as he walked her back to her rooms after their rehearsal dinner. They were quiet until they reached her door. She leaned up against the wall, grinning up at her husband-to-be.<p>

"I should be going," he said, making no move to leave, "The boys are waiting for me."

"Are you sure?" She was being one of those silly girls again but she didn't care. Lucy knew she could survive without him now, but she had no desire to see him leave.

"No," he said. Sirius drew one single finger down her cheek before he leaned in to kiss her.

Her hormones had definitely shifted from making her overly emotional to making her so turned on she could hardly stand it. Sirius, of course, was taking full advantage of this.

They stood in the hallway, not thinking about the students that might pass them by, until the door opened and Dinah came out. "Well, well," her friend raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips with a knowing smile. "Couldn't we wait one more night for this?"

Lucy laughed, dropping the leg that had crept up Sirius's.

"I think it's a little late for waiting, don't you?" Sirius asked. "Besides," he said in a quieter voice, "a man would be stupid if he didn't take advantage of these sexy hormones that seem to have appeared."

"Well, a man has other men that are waiting for him down the hall. And the woman has girls waiting for her in here. I was just going back down to my room to get some Muggle things everyone was asking to see. Do you think I can leave you alone until then?" she teased.

"Um," Lucy blushed, "Only if you take me with you. Are you bringing Twister? You should bring Twister."

Dinah laughed, "Well, I'm sorry but all available rooms are currently occupied and if I didn't stop you you would have commenced the act right here in the hallway. _Not_ exactly a wise move."

Lucy grinned, "Probably not. I have to admit I like these hormones better than the weepy ones. How've you been doing?" she asked, following Dinah to the rooms she shared with Severus.

"You mean since the rehearsal an hour ago?" she grinned. "Very well, thank you."

"Oops," she said, blushing again, "I guess I wasn't thinking. Madam Pomfrey assures me things like that are completely normal. Are you sure Severus is okay being in your rooms by himself? I feel bad about that, but I really don't think he'd enjoy himself with the guys."

"You offered, he declined," Dinah said. "He wouldn't enjoy himself with them, you're right. It would be awkward, especially with Harry there. Don't worry about Severus, he can entertain himself. Actually, he's probably looking forward to a nice normal evening without having to worry about my screwball eating habits." She stopped at Severus's office door and opened it with her key, leading them through the office and into the living area where Severus sat on the couch reading the potions book he had bought in Hogsmeade over the summer, Godric the cat sitting at his feet, watching them with a twitching tail.

"Hi, Severus," Lucy greeted, "Enjoying your book? Dinah was just telling me you're going to enjoy not having to deal with her hunger issues."

He looked up and smiled slightly. "I confess that will be refreshing."

She paused by a mirror, pulling her robes tight across her abdomen, "I think I've entered the stage of I don't look pregnant I just look fat. This extra bit of weight could have held off a couple more days, but nooooooooo it had to show up two weeks ago."

"Oh, you look fine," Dinah said. "Doesn't she, Severus?"

"I'm not getting involved," her husband muttered in reply.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Sirius said something similar when I pointed out my issue to him. Do you need any help there, Dinah?"

"Let's see..." Dinah took her wand out and waved it. "_Accio_ CD Player, _Accio_ Laptop, _Accio _mobile phone, _Accio _Twister..." the four items floated over to her and Severus watched them fly by with a frown.

"Are you finally consenting to remove those infernal things from my presence, I hope?" he asked.

She laughed. "No such luck. Just showing them to the girls upstairs. Um, Lucy if you want to carry two things that would really help."

"It's a good thing we invited Fleur, Audrey, Angelina, and Katie to come over. Otherwise Tonks would be the only one not to have seen this stuff. Actually she might have some of it since her father was Muggle-born and all," Lucy grabbed the mobile and Twister, "Are you sure I can handle this? We were banned from carrying things this summer remember?"

She laughed. "I think we'll be fine. Unless you beg to differ?" she asked her husband.

He rolled his eyes, "No."

Lucy grinned, "Then I guess we'll see you tomorrow Severus. Enjoy your quiet night."

"I will, thank you," he replied with a slight smile.

"Tomorrow, I'll bring all the leftover snacks back," Dinah teased, leaning over and kissing him.

"If you do, I'll never forgive you," he said back, sliding a hand through her hair and pulling her in for one more kiss.

She laughed. "Mm, okay. We'll see. Good night," she stood and gestured for Lucy to head out of the room with her.

Lucy turned to look at her friend as they made their way back to her rooms, "I'm not the only one who's been bit by the sexy hormones I see," she raised an eyebrow, imitating Severus.

"I see nothing wrong with kissing my husband good night," Dinah said, smiling lightly.

"Oh, you can kiss your husband good night but I can't do the same to my fiancé, hmmm?" Lucy teased.

"My leg wasn't halfway up to his crotch," Dinah retorted.

"Yes, well," Lucy blushed, "Neither one of us were on a couch. Trust me; the couch would have been a more dangerous place to find us."

"At least the couch wouldn't have been in a public hallway," Dinah said, still managing to get in all the good retorts.

Lucy laughed, "Very true. I give up, you win. Sirius and I have fewer inhibitions than you and Severus. It's a terrible thing and I'm not sure how we'll ever manage to be productive members of society." She stopped outside her door and cocked her head, "So, you got any interesting plans for us tonight? Besides showing off the Muggle stuff that is."

"Oh, I thought we'd bring over a few of my male Muggle friends and have them strip for us. Then we'd eat ice cream."

"Ice cream we can do. I think the stripping might get us in trouble. I've stashed our drinks separate from theirs though and in case you need a reminder no one knows about me yet so…"

"I know, I won't tell," Dinah said as they came back to Lucy's door. "But they know about me, so we might want to make sure our drinks at least _look_ different so they don't think we're having the same thing. A simple food-coloring spell should suffice." She smiled a little. "Oh, and by the way I was kidding about the stripper thing. Unless you _really_ want me to, that is," she winked.

Lucy laughed, "No, no that's okay. The only fully-grown naked male I've ever _intentionally_ seen is Sirius."

Tonks looked up, overhearing the last bit as the pair walked through the door, "Yeah, intentionally is the key word there Luce. Nice to see you, by the way. We were beginning to think you abandoned us to go play with the boys."

"Very, very close," Dinah said. "I just barely managed to stop her." She placed the Muggle things down on the floor in the middle of where all the girls sat.

"Oh, it's not as if I don't have _any_ control," Lucy rolled her eyes. Okay, so right now she _didn't_ have much control but it wasn't her fault and the entire room didn't need to know that. "What do you guys have planned first?" she asked, turning the subject away from sex…hopefully.

"Presents!" Tonks shouted, "Then maybe that Twister game you keep talking about."

Tonks shoved an obnoxiously wrapped package into Lucy's lap. She was cautious as she started to open the present. Inside was a sheer nighty and underneath that was a bottle of massage oil, along with some chocolate body paint. Not nearly as bad as she expected from her friend.

"Thanks, I'm sure we'll get plenty of use out of these," she said, blushing and reaching for some gummies. She was about to pop one into her mouth when she noticed the shape. "Tonks!"

"What?" she asked, looking innocent, "It's exactly the type of food you should have at a hen party."

"You're lucky Aunt Molly isn't here."

"And that's exactly why she isn't. I don't think it's really her thing anyway. She and Mum would rather be back in town taking care of the kids. Now, who's got the next present for our dear friend here?"

"Here!" Dinah grinned, handing a small, square, wrapped package to Lucy. "It's the perfect follow-up gift. Might keep the gummies warm."

"Keep the gummies warm?" Lucy asked, confused as she opened up the tiny present. "Oh!" she said, excited when she saw what was inside. "Flavored Muggle protection! And some ribbed for my pleasure too! Thanks. Not sure how Sirius will feel about these, but he can't protest too much right?" she grinned.

Dinah giggled; "Yeah, I suspect you might just try them once and then stop. But you wanted to know what they were like and I figured this was the perfect time to give them to you," her eyes drifted over to some of the younger guests, and Dinah almost looked for a second like she wondered if this whole thing was exactly appropriate for some of them. But then she just shrugged.

Ginny and Hermione laughed, "Don't worry, Professor. We're all of age and I'm not telling Mum any of this…well not everything anyway."

"Here's our gift," Hermione said, holding out a white, wrapped package. It's not quite as…interesting as the other two but we thought you'd like it."

She opened the package to find a photo album. Inside were pictures of her with her Mum, the Weasleys, Tonks, Sirius, and somehow the Snapes too. It was an incredibly nice present, but now she was about ready to cry. "Thanks," she sniffed, "It's wonderful, really."

"You're welcome," Hermione said, "Ginny. Mrs. Weasley, and Sirius helped with the pictures and I put them all together."

The other girls at the party gave her nice, somewhat generic gifts, but that wasn't unexpected as she didn't know them as well as the others. Once all the presents were opened and drinks distributed they finally got to play an amusing game of Twister…which Lucy won.

* * *

><p>Late into the night everyone else had long since fallen asleep when Lucy pulled Dinah into her bedroom. The single bed had been replaced with a larger one intended for two. "We can share the bed if you want," Lucy told her friend, "It's new as of yesterday so Sirius and I have never slept in it together. If you'd rather sleep on a cot though I understand. I just don't want you to feel like you have to. I mean with being pregnant and all I assumed you'd rather sleep in a more comfortable bed."<p>

"That would be fine, thanks," Dinah smiled. "I don't know if a cot would be good for me at this point. I didn't even think about sleeping arrangements."

Lucy grinned, "I did, but since you chased away my first choice of bed partner I suppose you'll have to do."

Dinah laughed. "Yes, well, I'm afraid I won't be quite as accommodating as your other bed partner."

Lucy shrugged, "That's okay. The moment's passed anyway. Although in my defense I have to say not only is it the hormones but you might have noticed he hasn't been around at all this week either…"

Dinah frowned. "Really? Why? Is something going on?"

"Oh, no. Sorry. I didn't mean to imply there was something wrong. No, it's just I don't need him in the same way I did last year and well, we've been…abstaining for a couple weeks now."

Dinah laughed. "To make the wedding special or because of the pregnancy or what?"

"To make it special," she smiled shyly, going over to her dresser, "I'm not sure this is going to fit though," Lucy pulled out a corset and showed Dinah, "I mean it did a couple weeks ago but now…"

"Well, that's what resizing charms are for, I guess," Dinah smiled. "It's not as nice as doing it the old-fashioned way, but it should work in a pinch. It's kind of nice to make it special. Severus and I never really got much chance to think about such things, we jumped into the wedding so fast." She flushed. "Besides, he was still sort of ... deprived."

Lucy laughed, "I can imagine. I mean I wasn't worried about it before but once we did I found myself missing it after awhile. And of course Sirius would probably have you thinking it'd been months which we both know is not the case." She sighed and gave Dinah the once-over, "It's just not fair you know. You're farther along than I am and yet you look less pregnant than I do."

"It's probably only because I'm taller." Lucy could tell Dinah was trying to be encouraging about it, but it didn't make it any less frustrating.

She shrugged, "Maybe I'm being overly sensitive. It's just…people are going to be staring at me," she whispered the last as if it was some great secret. "I feel like everyone is going to look at me and they'll _know_."

"You look fine. You're seeing more than the rest of us are. It's only natural for us women to be most critical of ourselves. And I hardly think... with that on..." she nodded at the corset, "Sirius would be thinking too much about how much you're showing."

That made Lucy laugh, "Hardly. Then again, he's never really been bothered by how I look in whatever I happen to be wearing."

"Well, then your imagined pregnancy worries shouldn't have anything to do with it either," Dinah said logically.

"Oh, don't you start using your husband's tricks on me," Lucy teased. Stuffing the corset back in the drawer she grabbed some pajamas and quickly changed. "I don't know how I'm ever going to get to sleep tonight. Believe it or not I'm nervous."

Dinah smiled, grabbing a pair of fuzzy purple pajamas from her bag. "It's just all the fuss and the hype. It can be overwhelming, I know. I only had nine people alt my wedding and it was overwhelming." Her friend chuckled. "Think of it this way. At least you know you won't have a dream about Lucius Malfoy in a frilly pink dress only to be woken up on the morning of your wedding by a pair of wild animals destroying a kitchen."

That got Lucy to laugh and forget about her own nervousness. "I hope you're right. I don't think Sirius would take it well if he found out I was dreaming about Lucius."

"The pink dress makes it safer," Dinah declared.

Still giggling, Lucy got into bed and snuggled down, "Very true." As she drifted off to sleep, Lucy could feel Dinah climbing in behind her. It wasn't nearly as hard to sleep as she'd imagined.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The bathroom door had closed behind Lucy before the bedroom door opened and Tonks stuck her head in looking at Dinah. "Can I steal you away for a minute? I know you have to go get your parents this morning, but it won't take long."

"Oh," Dinah was surprised at this invitation from Lucy's other friend. She had communicated with her a little bit to arrange the hen party, but since Severus wasn't exactly comfortable with the Lupin pair she didn't really spend any kind of one-on-one time with them. "Sure," she closed her laptop and stepped out of bed, already showered and dressed and ready for the day.

"Ginny and Hermione are going to stay with Lucy while we're gone. The rest of the girls went back to town to get ready," Tonks told her as they walked out of Lucy's rooms, "I just wanted to show you a couple things so you weren't caught by surprise. I know Lucy and Sirius aren't going on a honeymoon right now but we still thought it'd be nice to do something for them. Hermione and Ginny thought of it actually. They showed me how to get to the Room of Requirement and well, we thought it'd be a good place for them to at least have a day of privacy or so."

"Oh!" Dinah smiled. "That's a lovely idea. I haven't gotten a chance to investigate the Room of Requirement myself yet, though I understand it has gotten major publicity over the past few years. As a matter of fact, I hear there is a certain book in there that I might_ love _to find..." she smiled at the thought of the old book filled with her brilliant husband's scratched notes from childhood. Her 'Half-Blood Prince.

Tonks grinned as they climbed to the seventh floor. Stopping by a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, Lucy's friend with her trademark bubblegum hair walked back and forth in front of the tapestry until a door appeared on the other side of the hall. "Here we are," she said, opening the door to reveal a cozy room that was more of a wintry forest glen than an actual room. "What do you think? It seems very Lucy to me and it goes with the surprise Sirius has in store for the reception. I told him not to mess with a girl's wedding plans, but I think she'll like it. We can go see that next if you want. Sirius's surprise that is."

"It's beautiful," Dinah murmured, staring dreamily out at the snow-covered landscape dotted in trees. "If Sirius's gift is anything like this I'm sure Lucy will adore it. You should make it snow, though. I think she'd like that."

"Oh, you're right she would," Tonks said, screwing up her face and waving her wand at the room. Slowly small snowflakes began to fall from the ceiling. "Just wait until you see what the boys have done to the Great Hall. McGonagall's not letting the students in until the reception so the boys were helping decorate earlier. When they moved the wedding up Lucy changed everything to a Fall theme," Tonks told Dinah as she closed the door and started leading the way to the Great Hall. "I'm not sure _why_ they moved it up, but I'm not really surprised either."

"Hm," was all Dinah could think of to say. Yes, her husband's noncommittal noise was just as useful as his raised eyebrow. Still, she hoped Tonks would find out soon. She felt bad that the other young woman had not learned of Lucy's wonderful news yet.

Going all the way back down to the Great Hall, Tonks again led the way into the room. "Now, it's not finished yet but you get the idea." Inside, the room looked as if they were in a giant snow globe. Dinah imagined it looked a lot like what it would when they had the Yule Ball here. A cross between a snow globe and an ice castle.

"Beautiful!" Dinah gushed, feeling like she could get lost in this magical scenery. "But you said she had already arranged a Fall theme for this place...?"

"Yeah," Tonks nodded, "She wanted to stick with the season, but this is Sirius's surprise. He knew how much she was looking forward to having a winter wedding and wanted to do a little something for her. Personally I think there's something more going on than them just not wanting to wait so long, but if Lucy's not ready to tell me I won't pry."

"From what I know of Lucy, and I'm sure you know even better than I do," Dinah said, trying to be cautious, "sometimes she takes a lot of encouragement before she divulges any kind of secret. But," she frowned, not only bringing this up in an attempt to change the subject but because it really did worry her a little, "although I'm sure Lucy will love this scene, she might be annoyed if she put a lot of time and planning into the Fall theme and it doesn't get used. I wonder if there's a way he could have both make an appearance."

"Needing encouragement is one way to describe it," Tonks agreed, "Lucy's just plain stubborn and won't tell you a thing until she's ready. But I think you're right about using both themes. Maybe we could tone down the icicles and add some more flowers and such. Oh, yes just like that," she said as a nearby house elf overheard her and changed the bit he was working on to something that looked more like fall transitioning into winter.

"Yes, that's beautiful," Dinah smiled at the creature. "If you could just take whatever Professor Ketteridge originally told you to do and mix it with Sirius's ideas in some way, it would be really appreciated. Perhaps even something that transitions back and forth over the course of the reception? Oh!" she clapped her hands together as a brilliant idea surfaced. "Perhaps it could continue changing from Autumn to Winter, as though naturally but just at a faster speed? That might be lovely."

"Yes, Professor," the house elf agreed, slouching away to another area and another elf, presumably to tell the other elf the new plans.

"I have to say, Kreacher's really improved since he's been here. He used to be a right nasty git when we were at Grimmauld Place with the Order."

"Oh! That was Kreacher? I wish I had known, I would have addressed him as such," Dinah exclaimed, recalling the old elf from the stories Severus had told her.

"It's all right. He's used to being called worse and not just from Sirius either. Of course, I'm not against elfish rights…"

Dinah just sighed. "It's complicated." And it was complicated. Often she didn't even know where to begin with regards to the subject, so she always tried to treat house elves with the utmost kindness and respect if nothing else. She hoped Hermione would know better where to begin on the issue. "Well, I should go find Severus so we can head off to collect my family. Was there anything else you needed me for?" she offered the other woman.

Tonks shook her head, "No, I think we got everything covered. You might want to come back before the ceremony though," she teased.

Dinah laughed, "Oh, I don't think that will be a problem. My aunt will surely drag us back here in record time, if she can let go of Severus, that is. She might be torn."

Tonks grinned, "I look forward to meeting them. I'm going to head back up to the room and relieve Ginny and Hermione. I'm sure Lucy's about ready to have a little panic moment so I'll see you in a bit."

See you then," Dinah smiled and left the lovely room, pleased as she made her way down to the dungeons, that Tonks had taken her around and shown her the two places, and that she had had a chance to help combine the fall and winter ideas. This was going to be a very beautiful wedding indeed.

* * *

><p>Lucy took plenty of deep breaths and tried desperately not to throw up. She'd taken her potion after getting out of the shower and now stood in the middle of her bedroom wearing her lingerie and eyeing her wedding dress.<p>

It was beautiful, everything was set, and the entire day was going to go perfectly, she was sure of it. Why was it that she was so nervous then? She was ready for this. Another deep breath and she waved her wand, letting her dress fit itself onto her body. Now would be the dress's true test.

Looking in the mirror, she thought perhaps Dinah was right. Maybe that little bump was nowhere near as bad as she thought it was. All she had left to do was walk out her bedroom door and allow Tonks to do her hair, securing her mother's tiara and veil to it.

"There you are!" Tonks exclaimed as Lucy exited her room, Hermione and Ginny standing nearby. "You look amazing, but you will look even better once I do your hair and get this on your head," she said, holding up the tiara.

She managed to keep it together until her hair was done and Tonks was positioning the tiara and veil. That's when she thought about her mother and how it should be her putting the finishing touches on her daughter's wedding look; how she would have been so happy for her and so proud of who Lucy had become.

She sniffled a little before a tear or two managed to find their ways down her cheeks.

"Oh, no! Lucy you're not supposed to cry!" Tonks pleaded, "I know you want your Mum here but…"

"It's okay," Lucy said, grabbing a hanky to pat at her eyes. "I'll be fine."

"Aunt Jennifer _is_ here Lucy, just not in the way you'd prefer," Ginny said.

A knock on the door announced Arthur's arrival, ready to escort Lucy and her bridesmaids to the spot where she'd be married. "Are you ladies ready?" he asked, leaving the door to the hall open.

"No," Lucy said, "my make-up's not done. Dinah and I agreed to meet down front so she doesn't have to come all the way back up."

"A few minutes is all I can give you," Arthur grinned, "As I understand it the groom is getting quite lonely without you."

"That's cute," Hermione said, "Ron can be like that at times."

With a wave of Tonks's wand Lucy was perfectly done up for her wedding and her Uncle Arthur, the man she considered her father, led them outside to the spot not far from where everyone was waiting. Just through the trees some of the guests could be spotted, though Lucy couldn't see Sirius or any of the front rows from where she stood.

In a few moments, Lucy noticed Dinah plant a kiss on Severus's cheek and wave to her family before turning off, leaving her long-suffering husband with his favorite aunt while she hurried over to the meeting place, already dressed in her red and gold bridesmaid's gown.

"They all made it then?" Lucy asked, starting to feel a little panicked.

"Yes, yes, everyone's arrived safely and without incident!" Dinah assured her quickly, which meant that her panic was showing.

"Okay, good. Good," she repeated, taking another deep breath. "Oh, Tonks _please_ choose a normal color!"

"All right," her metamorphmagus friend grinned, changing her teal hair to a more acceptable chocolate brown, "just trying to lighten the mood."

"You'll be fine, Lucy," Remus said as the groomsmen came over to join the ladies. "I think Sirius is having a harder time of it, standing up there being stared at."

"Okay," Lucy repeated, closing her eyes and concentrating on breathing. "I'm ready."

The music started and Hermione and Ron led the way down the aisle followed by each couple in their turn. When Tonks and Remus made it to the front of the aisle the music changed and Arthur led Lucy to a spot where everyone could turn to see her before she made her way towards her groom. Everyone was staring at her, but no one seemed to be looking at her stomach. With that comforting thought her eyes wandered over to where Sirius was standing, waiting for her to reach him.

He looked ridiculous. Not because of his dress robes; no, those made him look very good. Someone had convinced him to pull his hair back, probably Bill. It wasn't that he looked bad, Lucy corrected her thoughts, it just wasn't him.

It seemed to take forever to walk to Sirius but when Uncle Arthur put her hand in her groom's everything seemed to become calmer. Bole started the ceremony, but Lucy hardly noticed. She did manage to repeat her vows at the proper time and follow instruction to place the ring on Sirius's finger; they'd picked out plain silver bands for their wedding rings. Almost before she knew it Bole was declaring them bonded for life and encouraging Sirius to kiss his bride.

When he kissed her, Lucy reached her arms around his neck and grabbed onto the hair he'd tied back. She tugged a little and he pulled back. "What in the world did you do to your hair?" she asked.

"Bill said it was a more formal look," Sirius explained.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," she insisted, pulling the tie out of her husband's hair. His hair fell forward, hiding them from the crowd a bit, and Lucy reached up to kiss him again.

They managed to behave themselves and pulled apart at a slight nudge from Tonks. With that they quickly made their way back down the aisle, and it was a much easier trip than it had been coming in the other direction.

Guests were encouraged to make their way up to the Great Hall to wait while pictures were taken. Lucy giggled when it proved impossible for Severus to get Aunt Mildred to wait until _after_ the pictures were taken to come talk to her and Sirius.

"Oh, congratulations!" the older woman gushed, throwing her arms around both of them at once. "That was just lovely and thank you so much for inviting us! Do tell me when the honeymoon is! Where are you going? Will there be dancing and glass-clinking at the reception? Can we actually go into that school over there? Will we see more magical things? Dinah and Severus were so cruel in having no reception! My goodness, you must both be very happy!"

Sirius gave Severus a pointed look, but answered Aunt Mildred's questions. "It's just a normal wizarding reception, of course there will be dancing."

Lucy smiled at the older woman and returned her hug, "You're welcome. I'm sure you'll see many more magical things up in the school. I wouldn't go wandering around it though, there are some areas that are off limits to the students and I wouldn't recommend you going there either. It could be dangerous. We're actually putting off the honeymoon for now."

"No!" Aunt Mildred looked both in shock and as though her deepest hopes had been shattered as her mouth opened in an 'O' of surprise. "Not even Dinah and Severus-" she began.

"Aunt Mildred, I hardly think myself and Dinah should be used as an example with which to gauge all other couples' wedding choices," Severus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he approached, his arm locked around Dinah's waist in a just slightly possessive manner.

"We're really okay with it Aunt Mildred. Honest. Now, we're just going to take a few pictures then we'll head up to the reception. If you want you could go check it out while you wait for us," Lucy encouraged.

"Oh! Of course. I must see the decorations. You do have decorations, correct? Magical ones?"

Dinah chuckled, "You'll have to go see for yourself, Aunt Mildred, but I think you'll be pleased."

When the old woman had rushed off after her husband and other relatives, Severus turned his own pointed look to Sirius. "Do not _glare_ at me. I have absolutely no control over that woman and bear no responsibility for what just happened."

"Don't you two start," Lucy scolded, "and Severus you're going to have to let go of Dinah for a bit longer."

Severus didn't look pleased about it but he let his wife go long enough for the pictures to be taken, quickly claiming her again when the pictures were over. The wedding party made their way up to the castle, the bride and groom hanging back from the group slightly.

"How are you?" Sirius asked, looking his wife up and down.

"Good. Starving, actually. I've been too nervous to eat all day."

"Then I'll have to get my wife some food."

That made Lucy giggle.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"You said 'wife'."

"Well, that is what you are," he said, being all logical.

"Mmm, very true…husband."

Sirius took the opportunity to kiss her again. They indulged for a few minutes before he pulled back. "You need to eat," he murmured.

"Mmm," she said, nuzzling her husband. "We could…skip the reception and go straight to bed."

"Normally I'd agree, but you happen to be pregnant."

"All right," she pouted, "but I expect you to make it up to me later."

"Lucy, it's been nearly three weeks. I'll more than make it up to you."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews! Sorry for the length between postings but my grandpa passed away and my computer got a virus so it was a rather hectic couple weeks. Not to worry though. I'm okay with everything that's happened, not that I don't have my moments but it was what he wanted and now he can be with Grandma so I think I've accepted it. Now, without further ado here's the next chapter for all you patient souls. :-)

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

"Now," Sirius said as they approached the doors to the Great Hall, "I know you changed everything to fit with having a Fall wedding, but I also know how set you were on doing this in the winter. So, I arranged a little surprise for you."

Lucy frowned, imagining all sorts of things that might be behind the doors. When the doors opened she was momentarily distracted by all the clapping and shouting of the students and other guests. She looked around at the room she hadn't yet seen fully decorated. The decorations looked much like she'd planned for them to look and then they slowly changed.

She gasped as the red and orange leaves on the trees started to fall and turned into snowflakes. The trees became covered in snow and the walls turned to ice. And then…the scene slowly changed back. "Sirius, it's beautiful!"

"Yes," he frowned, "but not what I asked for."

"You can thank Dinah for that," Tonks said, encouraging them to make their way up to the head table.

Dinah blushed, still hovering close to Severus for the time being; "Well, when Tonks said Sirius wanted to change it to winter, I thought you'd like it but wouldn't want to see all of your fall plans you spent your time on not used, so I came up with this compromise. I hope you both like it. Both ideas got incorporated."

"It's perfect," she said, sniffing.

"Hey, no weeping. You're going to make Dinah think she's upset you," Sirius said, teasing her.

"No," she insisted, following her husband up to the head table, "It's lovely and I wouldn't change a thing."

"She's right," Sirius said, turning to Dinah as they all took their seats, "Thanks. I wouldn't want to have my wife annoyed with me on our first night of married life."

Lucy giggled again.

Sirius looked on either side of him to Remus and Severus, "Did either of yours do that every time you said wife?"

Remus shook his head, "No, but she did change hair color frequently."

Severus finished gentlemanly pulling out Dinah's chair for her before settling in his own designated seat next to his wife; "I do not believe there was any giggling involved, no," but the affectionate look he and Dinah exchanged seemed to indicate that other things might have been involved.

"I'm sorry," Lucy grinned, "It's just weird. Now, I believe you said something about providing your wife with food, husband."

"Ah, yes. Maybe a full stomach will help with the giggles," he nodded towards Minerva, who summoned up the dinner.

In front of Lucy appeared a plate of roasted potatoes, steak, and salad. Her glass filled with what looked like champagne. She cautiously shifted the glass over towards Sirius as the rest of the guests started to eat. "Taste this will you? Just to be sure."

He lifted her glass and sipped at the contents. "You're fine," he murmured in her ear under the cover of kissing her cheek.

That set off a round of clinking glasses. Lucy suspected it started at the table of Dinah's relatives, but she didn't mind since it gave her and Sirius an excuse to kiss again. It was the first time she could remember that they'd kissed in front of the students. Some of the younger ones giggled, the older ones grinned, and some of the boys made gagging sounds.

When the kiss ended Sirius pointed at her plate and ordered, "Eat."

"Yes, husband," Lucy demurred, grinning and popping a potato into her mouth.

Sirius rolled his eyes at her but tucked into his food without comment.

Once dinner was over, the tables had been moved to the sides of the Hall so there was room for dancing. Sirius led her around the floor and out of the corner of her eye Lucy could see Dinah's cousin Larry snapping Muggle pictures alongside their wizard photographer. She hadn't asked him to take pictures, but it was nice that he wanted to capture these moments anyway. After a couple minutes the wedding party joined them on the floor, Charlie grinning at Dinah as they danced together, but keeping a watchful eye on Severus's scowling face.

The first dance was over and most of the students were out on the dance floor when Aunt Molly came up to greet Lucy and her new husband. She giggled again when she thought about being a wife. Really, if she didn't knock that off people were going to start to think she was tipsy.

"Congratulations dear," Molly said, enveloping them both in a motherly hug. "I know we've had our ups and downs Sirius, but you've always done your best to take care of Lucy and you make her so happy. It's nice to have you as part of our family now."

"Thank you," Sirius said, "I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt her, you know that."

"Oh, no" Lucy interrupted in a whisper, having caught sight of Tonks chatting animatedly with Aunt Mildred.

"What? Are you okay?" Sirius immediately asked.

"Yes," Lucy smiled, "I'm fine. I should just go get Dinah and make sure Tonks doesn't give Aunt Mildred a heart attack. My dear friend's hair _was_ brown when we came in here. Now, it seems to be back to her usual spiky, bubblegum pink. If you'll excuse me."

Lucy hurried over to the dance floor where Dinah and Severus were dancing. It was probably comical to watch her follow the couple until she got close enough to garner their attention. "I'm sorry," she apologized when the couple stopped dancing, "I just thought you should know that Tonks and Aunt Mildred seem to be having a rather good chat. It's probably nothing but Tonks has already changed her hair back to pink and…I thought you'd want to know."

"Oh," Dinah loosened her grip on Severus so that she could face Lucy better. "You think the hair is a problem? Aunt Mildred is probably just asking a bunch of questions about it."

Lucy bit her lip…maybe she was overreacting. "Right, um, maybe I'm over thinking it…I just don't want Tonks to shock your aunt into having a heart attack or something. Especially if she starts making duck and pig faces at her, but if you think it's fine. I mean you know your aunt better than I do."

"Well, as long as you think Tonks will explain what she's going to do before she does it, you're probably fine," Dinah said. "I mean, if she says 'I'm going to make a duck face', that's good, but if she just does it... I wouldn't worry about heart attacks, though. More just some shrieking and general loudness. But I imagine Tonks would warn her..."

"Yeah," Lucy nodded, "You're probably right. Tonks isn't stupid after all. She can handle people. Sorry for bothering you. I suppose I should get back to my husband then."

Dinah giggled, "Oh, it's all right, you're not bothering us. Congratulations again, by the way. You seem to be enjoying the reception quite a bit."

"Yes, everything was so lovely," Mrs. Samson added with a smile as Dinah's parents danced on over to them. "It was so nice of you to invite us! We seem to be getting so many nice surprises as of late, especially considering we just found out we're going to be grandparents."

Dinah grinned and flushed and even Severus smiled a little at his in-laws before the Snapes drifted off to allow Lucy a chance to talk to the Samsons.

"It was nice of you to come," Lucy said, "I hope you've been enjoying yourselves and you've gotten to see a little bit more of where Dinah spent her school years. Though it doesn't look quite like this all year round. I was so excited when Dinah told me the news. You must be so much more excited. I can't even imagine."

"What news?" Sirius asked, nodding at Mr. and Mrs. Samson as he wrapped his arms around Lucy.

"About the baby?" Lucy smiled.

"Whose baby? Oh," he said, realizing they couldn't have been talking about his and Lucy's baby, "Dinah's baby."

Mr. Samson smiled; "Well, those other two... Teddy and Anne, were their names? They are quite adorable, too. And yes, we are very excited."

"Teddy and Anne are two of my favorite kids, I'll admit," Lucy grinned.

"It should be interesting here in a couple years with a toddler running about alongside the students," Sirius added.

"I'm sure," Dinah's father agreed as her mother smiled and nodded. "From what Dinah has told us, the headmistress is open to the idea for now."

Lucy nodded, "None of the staff can remember having a married couple with children living here, so it's sort of on a 'we'll see how it goes' basis."

"It better go well," Sirius told her, kissing her cheek, "Seeing as you apparently wish for a brood a big as your aunt's."

"Not quite that big," Lucy blushed, knowing they were well on their way to achieving that notoriety.

"Oh, how nice. It would be lovely if your children could grow up together," Mrs. Samson offered with a smile, having no idea of the irony of her statement.

"Yes, it would be. Though that might make Severus cut our get-togethers down to once every other week," Lucy grinned.

She laughed, her gaze drifting to regard her daughter and son-in-law who were still dancing off in the distance. "Yes, Severus is an interesting sort, isn't he? But he's a good man."

"Yes, he…" Lucy started to say, but was interrupted by Charlie coming over and whisking her away for a dance. After that she felt like she was passed around to nearly every important male in her life, before being allowed a moment of rest standing by her husband.

"Still doing okay?" he asked, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

"Mmmhmm," she nodded. Soon they were ushered over to the cake table to cut the cake. They made the cut and she gave Sirius a warning look when he held out the cake to feed her, "Don't you dare."

He gently placed the bit of cake in her mouth with his fingers as she did the same to him. Maybe it was the hormones, but it was a very sensual sensation to feel his mouth close around her fingers as she fed him, and then he held her hand in place to lick the remaining bits of frosting left on her fingers. She was so worked up that it was a little embarrassing to have everyone watching.

Almost without her awareness the cake was taken away to be cut for the guests and the dancing resumed.

"Professor Black! Professor Black!" a young voice called from nearby.

Lucy didn't acknowledge the voice, in fact she was still focusing on Sirius's fingers, but Sirius nodded and smiled, "I think they're talking to you."

She giggled, realizing that along with the title of 'wife' she'd also gained the new moniker of Lucy Black. Turning, she saw Mae Yates standing nearby, looking very excited.

"I just wanted to say thank you soooooo much for letting us students come to the party!" she twirled around in the adorable, pale green dress she was wearing. "Because Andrew and I are second years we can't go to the Yule Ball later this year, so it's just _so_ nice that we can get dressed up and dance and everything here! Oh, and congratulations too, of course!"

"Thank you. And you're very welcome. You're all a large part of my life so why wouldn't I have you here? It just didn't seem right to use a part of the school for this and deny the students entry."

"That's so nice of you!" Mae gushed. "I just wanted to thank you in person. Now I have to go find Andrew and make him dance with me. I think he's afraid Wortham or Lee or Cantrell might laugh at him but if they do I'll just punch them!" she giggled.

Lucy tried not to laugh, "I'm not sure I should be encouraging that, but I certainly wouldn't blame you if you did." She looked around the Hall. Most of the students had wandered back to their common rooms but she spied Tad and Jania dancing together, Agrona and Derwent snogging in a dark corner, and Dinah and Severus sitting at a table conversing with Dinah's relatives. "Why don't you go find Andrew and I'll see if I can do something to help your cause."

Mae nodded, and scurried off while Lucy turned to her husband, "Do you mind if I go annoy your arch-nemesis into dancing with me?"

Sirius grinned and shook his head, "No, but I might charm one of the ladies at the table into being my partner."

Lucy rolled her eyes and strolled over to the table where her pregnant friend was stuffing her face with the cake that had been served. She nodded a greeting to everyone at the table before turning to Dinah's husband and sighing. "Severus," she said, "I think you're going to just have to pluck up the courage and do it."

Very slowly, Severus turned his head towards her, that usual eyebrow raised and his expression indicating that he was both extremely confused and thought that she had lost her mind. He smirked; "Exactly what are you talking about?"

She looked towards the ceiling then back at Severus, acting for all the world as if _he_ was the one who wasn't being sensible. Beside her she could hear Sirius holding back laughter. "You're simply going to have to dance with the bride. It's only proper. You wouldn't want her to think you didn't like her, would you? Or insult the groom by making him feel as if his new wife isn't good enough to dance with?"

Dinah nearly choked on her cake in laughter, while Severus just stared at Lucy for a moment before protesting; "I wasn't - I never said I wouldn't - it is not necessary for me to - what exactly are you implying?" She definitely had him flustered.

"I'm saying," she said, bending down closer to his ear, "dance with me."

He actually flushed a little and looked away, while Dinah giggled and finished off the last of her cake. "Go on, Severus."

"Is this really necessary?" the other man's voice was strained.

Lucy nodded, trying to look like she was sorry about it, "I'm afraid so." When he made no move either way, she whined, "Pleeeease?"

"Oh, now, Severus, go and dance with her!" Aunt Mildred encouraged; "Look at the poor girl, and on her wedding day, too! You can't say no to a bride!"

Severus scowled; "Aunt Mildred, just because you _order_ me to do something does not mean-"

"Oh, Sev," Dinah chuckled, causing her husband to break off and look at her. The look was nearly pleading, but Dinah just shook her head and gently encouraged; "Go."

Severus looked around the table, but everyone was watching him as though they expected him to comply with Lucy's request. "Fine!" he snapped, standing abruptly and glaring at the lot of them. "I still don't see why this is necessary. I am not a part of the wedding party."

"For a number of reasons," Lucy grinned as he led her out onto the dance floor, "Primarily among them being so Andrew," she nodded her head towards the younger couple, "feels it's okay to dance. Also, because I _like_ you and I don't believe you could be any worse a dancer than Gawain. He used to step on my feet _constantly_. I mean I'm no ballerina but really."

Severus flushed a tiny fraction when she said she liked him, but still managed a smirk; "Robards finds all sorts of ways to be annoying. It's in his nature."

Lucy giggled at the comment as they began swaying in time to the music. It wasn't nearly as fancy as the way Sirius directed her when they danced, but still, it was nice. "Oh, he's not _that_ bad…well, okay, maybe he is, but I did love him once. I thought I did anyway. It's nothing compared to the way I feel about Sirius, but then I suspect you understand that notion."

"Yes. Perfectly." Severus was watching Andrew lead Mae around awkwardly on the dance floor. "Those two seem to be doing well. And you believe me dancing with you somehow made it more acceptable for him to do the same with Mae? That begs the question... because I am his head of house or because I was once nearly as awkward as he is?" Severus's raised eyebrow was challenging this time, but he didn't look _completely_ offended.

"Mm," she hummed, turning a bit to look at the other two dancers, "Maybe a bit of both, but mostly because he looks up to you. And Mae _might_ have mentioned she was afraid Wortham, Lee, and Cantrell would tease him."

"Hm," Severus frowned. "He is doing better, though. He stands up to them and often succeeds in ignoring them."

"Yes," Lucy murmured, laying her head on Severus's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she apologized, feeling him stiffen beneath her and knowing he didn't like the contact. "It must be getting late. Or maybe I've just done too much," she offered as her eyes drifted closed. It was a good thing they weren't performing any sort of complicated dance, she thought.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What do you think they're talking about?" Sirius asked, as Larry got up to take pictures of the bride and her friend. Like it or not, and he really didn't not like it, but the two out there dancing were friends, for lack of a better term.

"Well, I wouldn't know," Aunt Mildred said with some self-importance. "Actually, Lucy doesn't appear to be saying anything now. She looks comfortable though. That Severus surely is a striking fellow. 'Striking' is the word, yes, most definitely. But he does have a sort of magnetism, doesn't he, Dinah?"

Dinah seemed more interested in her third piece of cake, at least the third Sirius had seen her with since sitting down, than in what Severus and Lucy were or weren't talking about, but she did manage an indulgent smile at her husband. "Well, I certainly think so. I think the head on the shoulder bit is a lot for him right now, but he's holding his own pretty well, I must say."

"She looks tired," Sirius said, frowning a little bit. "Do you think she looks tired?" he asked Dinah, "Are _you_ tired for that matter?"

Dinah shook her head a little in warning at him, trying to subtly caution him against saying too much, as her family was starting to look curious. But her tone was casual as she said; "I'm just hungry, actually, if you couldn't tell. And believe it or not there's no appetite stimulant involved this time. It's just me."

Sirius grinned. He got the hint. Lucy would be really annoyed if they'd worked this hard to keep the pregnancy a secret until after the marriage only to have him reveal it to Dinah's parents because of his concern. "Severus would be thrilled I'm sure. Have you two talked about how you're going to deal with the students when they find out? They'll have questions I'm sure?" He and Lucy had talked about it a little but hadn't quite decided on a strategy for dealing with the issue.

"Well," Dinah flushed a little, "I mean I'm pretty sure they all know the basics of having babies and how things 'work', being at least eleven..."

"True. I know I did," he grinned, "I meant more of the 'What are you going to name the baby? Are you going to bring the baby to class?' sort of things." He was also curious to know if they were going to acknowledge the pregnancy to the school or just sort of not talk about it unless the students brought it up. Lucy was leaning towards letting the school know somehow after they told their friends and family, but she wasn't sure how she wanted to go about it. Sirius wasn't sure either way.

"Well, I think I'll tolerate them to a certain extent," Dinah admitted. "I'll answer them honestly, though if it starts to interrupt class I'll discourage it. I think Severus will just take points away from the beginning and refuse to answer them," she admitted, her lips twitching into an amused smile.

Sirius laughed, "Yeah, he would and he'd enjoy it too." Looking back out onto the dance floor Sirius saw both their spouses returning. "Severus doesn't look too traumatized."

Dinah laughed, "Oh, good."

* * *

><p>Lucy sighed when the music stopped and lifted her head, "Thanks for dancing with me. I think I'll let you return us to our spouses now."<p>

"Mm," Severus agreed, looking a little out-of-sorts but not too bad. He also seemed thoughtful as he turned and led them back towards the table where Dinah and Sirius sat with the Samsons.

They said little else until they reached the table. Sirius immediately yanking her down into his lap. "The students are leaving," he murmured in her ear, "I think it's time for the garter toss."

Dinah jumped up from where she had been whispering something of her own with Severus and nestling her head in his shoulder; "Oh, I want more cake!" she levitated a piece over to herself while Severus watched, annoyed, and then grinned at Lucy; "And I want to see the garter throw! Get going!"

Sirius chucked and scooted the chair back a couple feet, "We're not going far. Lucy had last minute nerves about this and wasn't sure she wanted to do it. Now she has no choice."

"Sirius!" Lucy squeaked, as his hand started to lift her skirt, revealing her fancy blue shoes.

"Don't worry," he grinned, "I'm not having them make an announcement. The only people that are going to see are the ones who happen to look this way." His hand slipped under her skirt and caressed its way up her leg.

It went higher and higher, passing her garter and going on up to stroke her bum. "Hey!" she squeaked again, straightening up in his lap a bit, "That's _not_ my garter."

"My mistake," he grinned.

"Young man!" Aunt Mildred shrieked, "Not only is this completely untraditional doing it at our table, but to think you would go so far as to-" she broke off and shook her head, but she looked more thrilled and excited than she looked disapproving.

Dinah chuckled while Severus glared; "Sirius, really, of all the tables to choose you chose this one?" teased the former.

Sirius shrugged, his hand drifting back down when Lucy tugged on his hair a bit. "We were here," he said, "It seemed fitting. There is exactly one single man at this table and it'd be a little weird to give Lucy's garter to my godson or her relatives."

"Huh?" Larry frowned as Aunt Mildred's eyes lit up. "So... you're just going to hand it to me?"

"Oh, _do _tell me you're going to let the man put the garter on the woman who catches the bouquet!" Aunt Mildred said eagerly.

"Mum!" Larry shouted, his ears turning a little pink.

Lucy was blushing, trying desperately to keep her dress from riding too far up her legs. "I think we'll refrain from having them do that Aunt Mildred. Most of the single girls still here are younger than me. It might be awkward for all involved."

One of Sirius's fingers tucked under the garter and slid it down her leg and over her shoe. He took a moment to note the red ribbon running through it and the silver lace that decorated it, before haphazardly tossing it in Larry's direction. Then he reached up with the hand that had tossed the garter to turn Lucy's face to him and kissed her. "Now what else are you wearing under there?"

"You'll just have to find out later," she grinned, sort of enjoying how he was eager enough to ask that question in front of the Samsons.

"The red and silver is just lovely," Aunt Mildred said, as Larry inspected the object.

Dinah grinned at her cousin; "So, any new women at that job of yours yet, Larry? You might want to put that garter on your desk or something."

"Oh, shut up, Dinah," he grumbled, stuffing the garter into a pocket before muttering a "Thank you" to Sirius.

Lucy gave Aunt Mildred a sheepish grin, "Thank you. It was supposed to be red and bronze for our houses but they only had the red and silver. I discovered most garters are blue or white so I settled for this. I assume you know about the Hogwarts houses?" She didn't want to confuse the poor lady.

"Yes, yes, Gryfflepuff, Ravendoor, Salaclaw, and Slythers," she nodded importantly. "The last of which has the parseltongue, because snakes slither, you know."

The look Severus was giving his 'aunt' was indescribable. Dinah was trying not to laugh; "Close, Aunt Mildred, close. I'm surprised they didn't do house colors in the garters, Lucy. They seem to do it with everything else."

Lucy nodded, "I was surprised too, but I couldn't find one. That was all I could find," she nodded toward the garter sticking out of Larry's pocket.

"Lucy, dear," Aunt Molly said, coming up to the table, "I've gathered all the girls for the bouquet toss. This way you won't have to worry about doing it before you leave."

"All right, I guess I'll be right—" she stopped as she turned to see all the single girls standing behind the chair she was still sharing with Sirius. "Looks like you all get a front row seat," she told the table. She shifted a little so that her back was more to the girls than it was before and prepared to throw her bouquet. "Now," she said, before tossing it, "I know there's foxglove in this, but don't worry. Severus made sure it would be completely harmless."

With that she performed a few practice throws and then let her bunch of flowers go. A part of her wanted to keep the blooms but she'd have the pictures and they'd last far longer than the flowers anyway. She turned to see a flustered Hermione holding the flowers.

"Oh, um, here. You should have this," she said, trying to shove it into Ginny's arms.

"You caught it. You keep it," Ginny grinned.

Lucy grinned, "You have to keep it Hermione. Those are the rules."

"And we all know Lucy's a stickler for the rules," Sirius teased. He stood, holding Lucy in front of him, "I think it's time for us to go now."

"We'll escort you out," Tonks offered. "The bridesmaids have one last surprise for you two," she said, when Sirius started to protest.

"Oh! Right, I've just got to see this!" Dinah pushed away her empty cake plate and stood.

Lucy laughed, "It must be good if Dinah's abandoning her cake for this."

Dinah giggled; "Well, I could probably have another piece but I'll skip it for now. Aunt Mildred, watch Severus while I'm gone," she told her aunt, patting her husband on the head.

"What?" Severus demanded; "Dinah-"

"Hurry, hurry," Dinah grinned and shooed Lucy and Sirius away from the table.

The newlyweds allowed themselves to be ushered out of the Great Hall amid teasing, cheers, and some throwing of rice.

"Now," Tonks said, as they climbed all the way to the seventh floor, "We know you're putting off a real honeymoon for now but Hermione and Ginny came up with this idea and Dinah and I helped execute it."

Tonks shoved open the doors she'd revealed. Inside was possibly the most beautiful room Lucy had ever seen. It was like a scene from a book. A winter scene in a little forest glen, complete with bed, couch and probably anything else they would need. And it was snowing!

"It's…" she trailed off, her hormones bringing on the tears.

Dinah smiled at the group, "I think that means she likes it."

Lucy took a couple steps forward, "I love it." She'd nearly crossed the threshold when Sirius held her back.

"Uh uh," he said, "Not like that. Like this," he picked her up and held her, "It's tradition."

"I think that pertains to doing this when entering your home, but I'll let it slide," she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

Her husband carried her over into the forest room and sat her down near the bed before he turned to the others standing outside. "Night," he grinned, closing the couple inside the wonderful, snowy room.

* * *

><p>"Now," Sirius said, standing behind Lucy and running his finger over the edge of her dress, where the material stopped and her skin began. "I believe we had a discussion about buttons?"<p>

"Mmm," she hummed, "I believe we did, but I ignored it. Stupid me thought making you fight through all the buttons would be fun. Can't remember why right now and if I wasn't wearing a wedding dress I'd tell you to rip it to pieces."

Sirius chucked, his tongue replacing his finger as his hands moved to undo those silly little buttons one by one. It seemed to take an age and a half but finally he had all the buttons undone and the dress pooled at her feet.

Lucy's hormones wanted her to attack her husband, but they were too thrilled by his efforts to remove her corset to make a move.

"This looks exquisite on you," he panted, "but I do not have the patience to properly appreciate it right now."

"That's okay," Lucy assured him, as he laid her back on the snow-covered bed, "my hormones are so out of control right now I don't think I could let you anyway.

They lay there in the afterglow, Lucy's eyes drifting shut and Sirius's hand wandering over her body. It drifted down to rest on what he assured her was a barely-rounded stomach. "I love you," he murmured, "and you too," he kissed her cheek.

"Mmm," was all her brain could manage.

He chuckled, "Get some rest. It's been a long day." That was the last she heard for a couple hours.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"And so, therefore…"

Severus tuned the old woman out, instead looking out over the dance floor which was growing sparse after the bride had groom had left for the snow-covered love nest the bridesmaids had apparently made for them. He had no idea how weddings were normally planned and so consequently had no idea who was going to tell all of these people to go home. Or, in the students' case, back to their common rooms.

He was pleased to see that Mae – because he was stuck calling the infernal girl that now – and Andrew had apparently enjoyed dancing together so much that they were still doing so. Though he still didn't understand what his dancing with Lucy had had to do with it. Or why she wanted to dance with him so much and even leaned her head on his shoulder while doing so.

It had been strange, to say the least. And yet, he had recalled Dinah's words to him from a while back, assuring him that it was okay to like being liked. That everyone did.

He wasn't used to such a thing, but in all honesty, it _was _sort of… nice that others seemed to like him now. That they could be comfortable around him. Though it still clashed with his desire to terrify people. He supposed it depended upon his mood and the circumstances which he would prefer at any given moment.

And Dinah had been so ridiculously pleased that he had allowed the bride - their friend - that courtesy. Though apparently, not pleased enough to keep her head nestled in his shoulder when he had told her that though the experience with Lucy had not been terrible he much preferred her there. Well, it was between him and cake, and these days cake seemed to win out more than he would like it to. Unless his wife was having a 'not-hungry' day.

"Don't you agree, Severus?"

Lovely. The woman had finally stopped babbling and decided to ask him a question. How was he to make her think he had been listening? "Hm," he agreed, hoping that was enough.

"See, Ed, I _told _you Severus would agree with me!" she gloated to Dinah's father, her brother, and then turned back to Severus. "So your child will spend two weeks with us every summer."

"What?" he demanded. That was what he had agreed to? "How did-"

"We're back," Dinah smiled, settling down into her seat again, putting a much-appreciated space in-between himself and Aunt Mildred. "Lucy just loved the little room we had bewitched for them. She was so happy."

"Probably much happier now that they're alone, especially since the groom was so anxious earlier," Aunt Mildred teased, winking.

Larry groaned; "Mum, stop."

"What? It isn't as though it's some kind of secret," she waved her son off.

"Is the wedding over yet?" Severus asked his wife. He didn't need to listen to Aunt Mildred babbling at him and he didn't need her making decisions about their unborn child and he most _certainly _didn't need to hear her talking about Lucy and Sirius having sex, which they knew plenty about already given the pair's own inability to keep quiet on the subject. "We still have to walk your relatives to their Muggle vehicles and it is surely dark by now."

Dinah nodded; "All right. It's starting to slow up here; I think we can make a quiet escape."

"Good," he replied, standing. At least his wife could be merciful towards him sometimes. Really, he understood what she was trying to do, get him used to Aunt Mildred, but he could only take so much and at least she seemed to understand that.

The woman in concern sighed dramatically, "Oh, all right, I suppose we should be getting back home anyway."

"Yes, your home, not ours," Ed told his sister, who just rolled her eyes at him. The more he saw of their interactions, the more Severus pitied his father-in-law, who seemed eternally exasperated by his over-the-top sibling. Winston, on the other hand, was very quiet. Almost _too _quiet, although the few times he'd put his foot down he'd proven to have the most control over his wife than any of them. Why he didn't use it more often, Severus could not guess.

"Give Lucy and Sirius our best again," Dahlia told Dinah, "and thank them again for inviting is. It was so nice of them to do so. I'm still surprised they did."

Dinah smiled, "You'll find Lucy is a very affectionate person. Obviously she took a great liking to all of you that time you walked back to your cars with her after our wedding." Her eyes glinted mischievously, "Although, apparently in your conversations the taboo subject of Dad's old flame, the infamous Florenci-"

"That's enough, dear!" Severus's mother-in-law held up a hand, flushed with indignance but smiling slightly as her husband and Dinah laughed; "Honestly, you all insist on ragging me about that so much!"

Severus cracked a smile. He enjoyed watching Dinah and her mother tease each other. He often wished he could have had the same kind of relationship with his family that she had with hers. But it had been impossible, unfortunately. Still, he had the opportunity to change things with his own, when the baby was born, and he hoped he could do it right…

"Well, let's go," Aunt Mildred was saying. "Larry, dear, would you like to go and say hello to the girl who caught the bouquet?"

"I really don't think that's necessary," Dinah's cousin grumbled, and Severus scowled at the thought of going over and communicating with Granger. It was bad enough that she would apparently be taking over Dinah's class for a while when the baby was born.

Dinah shook her head. "No, I think we should just escape quietly," she repeated for emphasis. "Severus has had enough Weasleys and Potters and Grangers to last a lifetime, I think."

Severus felt a wave of gratitude towards Dinah for her comment. Her understanding was one of the best things about their relationship. Not only that, but she was absolutely stunning in her bridesmaid's dress, despite the fact that it was red and gold. He almost wanted to go and dance with her again, but it was more important that they get their relatives – because they were his relatives now too – out of here so that he could take her back to their rooms for the night. Back to their quiet life together… even if it was punctuated by annoying appetite issues.

Not only that, but the cut of her dress in the front was…

"Sev?" Dinah said, cracking an amused smile; "You're staring at me."

He cleared his throat and slipped an arm around her waist; "Yes. Sorry. Let's go." He could look at her dress all he wanted later. Though it would probably spend most of the night in a heap on the floor. He had to admit though, Lucy definitely had good taste.

* * *

><p>"Do we really have to go?" Lucy asked, looking around her snow-covered bower that had served as the location of her honeymoon.<p>

"Probably," Sirius said, lounging on the bed, "Especially if you want to teach your students."

Lucy sighed, "I suppose you're right. You think it's late enough that we can sneak back without getting caught?" They hadn't planned on staying here so they were stuck with only their wedding clothes to wear back to her…their rooms.

"If I say no will you come back to bed?"

"No," she giggled, "Even though I don't _want_ to we have to go back to the real world sometime and I'd prefer to do it late at night rather than rushing around tomorrow morning."

"All right," he said, heaving himself out of bed. Together they snuck out of the room, leaving the forest behind. Sirius carried Lucy's blue shoes and she held up her skirt, their free hands clasped together. They had one more flight of stairs to go down when they came across Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris, prowling the hallway.

They stared at each other, Filch inspecting the couple. The older man didn't say anything. Really, what was there to say? They weren't students caught out of bed after hours. Filch sniffed and turned to go down another hall, muttering something neither of them could hear.

Sirius and Lucy looked at each other and laughed. Their laughter continued as they ran the rest of the way to their home. Closing the door behind them, they leaned against the wall, trying to catch their breath.

"So," Sirius said, looking around rooms that hadn't changed all that much since last year, "this is where I live now?"

"This is where you live now," Lucy confirmed.

* * *

><p>"Aren't you getting up?" Lucy asked Monday morning, as she stood in front of the mirror doing her hair.<p>

"Wasn't planning on it," her husband said, putting his hands behind his head as he watched her. "I don't have anything to do today."

"You don't even want to come up to breakfast?" She didn't mean to whine, it was early after all, but she'd been looking forward to eating breakfast with him in front of everyone.

"Lucy?" he asked, sitting up, "Is there something going on?"

She sniffed. Darn hormones. "No, nothing. It's just Minerva set aside a chair for you. It's been sitting there empty all week and…" she plopped down on the end of the bed and started wiping her eyes as tears started to sneak out. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry. I'm really not that upset. It's just…these stupid hormones."

"Hey," Sirius said, reaching for her, "it's okay. If you want me to come to breakfast, I'll come to breakfast. It would, after all, be our first one together as a married couple."

She smiled and laughed a little, her tears drying up, "What about those pancakes we had yesterday?"

"That doesn't count. It was two in the afternoon, hardly breakfast."

Again Lucy giggled, "You'll come then?"

"Of course." He brushed a few remaining tears from her cheeks and got out of bed to dress.

* * *

><p>They were a little late to breakfast, but Lucy didn't care. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as they entered the room, again holding hands. A part of her felt it was a little odd that she needed to touch him all the time again, but the reasons were different this time. It had nothing to do with a fear of him disappearing; she just wanted to touch him.<p>

The couple entered the Hall to a round of applause and students offering their congratulations again as they passed on their way to the head table. It was a relief to know that when they sat down Slughorn wouldn't be regaling Sirius with tales of his family, but instead they'd have the quiet presence of Eugene. All around them people smiled at them, giggling a little as the newlyweds held hands while eating. It made things a little more difficult for Sirius who was forced to eat with his left hand, but he didn't seem any more interested in letting go of her than Lucy did of him.

Lucy grew a little panicked when she realized she hadn't taken her anti-nausea potion since the day before the wedding. She felt fine though, and continued to feel fine throughout the meal. Maybe the nerves had played a larger part in that then she'd realized.

She waved at Dinah and Severus as the other couple left a little early, presumably to head to their classrooms.

"Class first thing?" Sirius asked, putting down his fork.

"Yes," she told him, "I won't have a break until about three, but I'll see you here for lunch?"

"And dinner too," he assured her.

"Oh. I was thinking we could have dinner back in our rooms. You know, take advantage of these pent up hormones?"

Sirius got that look in his eyes that appeared when there was the prospect of sex. Then Eugene cleared this throat.

"Sorry," Lucy apologized, blushing.

"Quite all right," said Eugene, who looked a little red himself.

* * *

><p>"Professor Ketteridge?" Agrona asked, raising her hand during Lucy's second class of the day. "Oh! I'm sorry. I mean Professor Black?"<p>

Lucy grinned, this wasn't the first time she'd had to go through this today and it wasn't likely to be the last. "It's going to take us all sometime to get used to my new name. I'm not going to deduct points or anything for calling me Ketteridge."

"Well," Agrona said, standing, "I'm sure you've been getting this all day, but well, we all talked and we just wanted to say thank you for letting us come to your reception. And Mr. Black too of course. We," she motioned to all the seventh years in the class, "wanted to get you something but we didn't know what you needed…"

"Oh," she said, touched that her students wanted to do such a thing for her and Sirius. Of course that meant her hormones started up again and her eyes started to tear up. "You don't have to do that. I appreciate that you'd want to but it's fine. We don't really need anything and I'm sure we'd both rather you all save your money for yourselves."

Agrona sat down without comment but somehow Lucy didn't think she'd succeeded in discouraging them from spending their hard earned money on her.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Saturday Lucy's nausea came back. She rested her head in Sirius's lap while she waited for the feeling of having just thrown up to fade away.

"We can go another time," Sirius offered, stroking her hair. She liked it when he did that, found it soothing.

She shook her head. Lucy knew her condition was unlikely to improve until they told her family about the baby. She just….wasn't sure how they'd take it. They weren't going to be upset, she was sure of that, but would they be disappointed? In her choices? In her? Would they give her that look that said 'you messed up'? She wouldn't know until they told them, but it didn't make her want to bury her head and avoid the issue any less.

"No," she said, sitting up, "It's just nerves. If we get this done and over with it'll go away. I did the same thing before the wedding."

"All right," Sirius said, not looking convinced.

"Everyone's still around, the Lupins, Harry, and Hermione are coming…it'll be better if we just do it now." She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Sirius or herself.

"Then we'd better get this done, so you can get back to keeping your meals down."

Lucy giggled, standing. They strolled out onto the grounds before she said, "I can always borrow Dinah's appetite stimulant."

"I don't think that will help," Sirius said, as they made their way towards the gates to apparate to the Burrow.

* * *

><p>It felt like an inquisition. Everyone sat on one side while she and Sirius sat on the other. And they were staring. They were probably staring because they'd been told the newlyweds had some important news to share. Even Charlie was giving them a rather pointed stare. What could be going through their heads?<p>

"So, um, we have some news."

"Yes, dear, I believe that's why we're all gathered here," Molly said. She was trying to be her normal motherly self, Lucy could tell. But she was also concerned and curious.

Under the table, Sirius had a hold of her hand, his thumb stroking the inside of her wrist. He'd offered to tell them for her, but Lucy had insisted she be the one to do it. She couldn't be cowardly about everything after all.

"I…I'm pregnant." She heard everyone's shock and surprise, but instead of sitting there and accepting their congratulations, Lucy got up and rushed outside.

* * *

><p>Outside, Lucy leaned up against the house, wiping at her eyes. Maybe she should have stayed to see what they had to say, but she just couldn't incase it had been something less than encouraging.<p>

"Lucy dear?" came the familiar voice of her Aunt Molly. "Why did you leave like that? Is everything okay?"

"You're disappointed," she mumbled, moving some dirt around with her toe.

Molly chuckled and reached a hand out to lift Lucy's chin, "Honey, I'm really not that surprised. I didn't really believe you had separate rooms but you seemed so intent that we believe it I let it go. Now," she said, wiping at Lucy's cheeks, "I _had_ hoped you'd both be more vigilant about using protection spells. I know things happen though. Would it make you feel better if I told you your Uncle Arthur and I once got caught out of our beds at four in the morning? We'd been out strolling after classes."

"Aunt Molly!" Lucy said, scandalized.

Again Molly chuckled, "It's true, dear. I might try to teach all of my children to behave properly, but I also know what it's like to be young and in love. It would have been nice if you'd waited until after marriage but that's not the baby's fault and it's not as if I'm worried that you've made the wrong choice. You're exactly where you should be in life." She pulled Lucy into a big hug, before pulling back to say, "Now let's go back inside, hmm?"

"All right," Lucy nodded. Inside Tonks immediately jumped on her.

"This explains so much," she said.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Lucy was so set on a winter wedding that we were wondering what got her to change her mind," Bill answered, "We didn't want to pry though."

"Oh, we wanted to," George added, "We were just too polite to do it."

"When are you due?" Ginny asked.

"March thirteenth," Lucy said, warming up to the subject. "Speaking of which I have something to ask you specifically."

"Me?" Ginny said, looking a little bewildered.

"Yes, you," Lucy grinned, "I know you're a big time professional Quidditch player now, but I was wondering if you think you'd be able to fill in for me in class from time to time. Ideally I'd like you to move in sometime in October so we can get you used to the class, maybe let you handle a couple on your own, and that way you'd be around in case anything unexpected comes up, but I understand if that's not possible."

"I'll do it!" her cousin practically screamed, "I'm just a reserve player right now so I'm sure we can work around it." She came around the table to hug Lucy asking, "Are you showing? Can we see? Can we feel it?"

"Hey, I think the best friend gets to see first," Tonks protested.

Sirius chuckled and said, "You both already saw."

When they looked confused Lucy explained, "I was pregnant last week too. I was convinced it was obvious but Sirius and Dinah assured me it wasn't."

"Dinah?" Tonks asked.

"I was with her when I found out," Lucy said, feeling guilty about not having told her friend the news right away. "I wanted to tell you but I didn't want to put you in the position of having to lie to anyone and I didn't want anyone to know until after we were married. Can you understand that? I probably wouldn't have even told Dinah if she hadn't been right there at the time."

"I do," Tonks nodded, "Just tell me next time okay?"

Lucy giggled, "Are you kidding? I'll tell you before I tell Sirius." She didn't think she should mention that she'd told Dinah before she'd told Sirius.

Looking around she saw the men had congregated in the corner. Probably all congratulating Sirius on his ability to get her pregnant. All in all, it hadn't turned out nearly as bad as she'd feared.

* * *

><p>Lucy took a moment to let Sirius snog her a bit before knocking on the Snapes' door. She hadn't really seen Dinah since the wedding but her friend had sent a note by the other day asking if they could have dinner together Sunday. So there they were standing in front of the Snapes' dungeon rooms door snogging away.<p>

She hoped Severus didn't answer the door, but then Sirius probably hoped he would. Snogging wasn't that bad though. After all, they were still sort of in a honeymoon period and her hormones were in overdrive at the moment. Still, Dinah would probably be the better option for opening the door. She'd caught them in a more compromising position last week so she was less likely to be shocked about it. They really did need to stop though…a student could walk by at any moment.

"Ah, well, hello hello," Dinah's voice teased. "Would you like to breathe before dinner or are you going to stand there snogging all day?"

A snort in the distance was followed by footsteps and Severus's voice muttering the word; "Typical."

Sirius chuckled and released Lucy, "I'd take the snogging but my wife needs to eat." He feigned shock when she didn't giggle, "Could it be the idea of being my wife isn't so laughable now?"

"It shouldn't be," Lucy grinned, "seeing as you just snogged me senseless." She turned and hugged her friend, "Hi. I won't hug you Severus," she assured him, "I don't want to push my luck."

"Hmm," Severus raised an eyebrow but made no other comment.

"Well, come on in. I think today's dinner is steak and baked potatoes. I'm not that hungry myself, but," she shrugged. "I'm sure if I'm saying the same thing in five minutes it will be appetite stimulant time."

Lucy nodded and they entered the rooms, settling in at the table. "It's nice to be able to eat something and not worry about throwing it up. How's your week been? I admit I've been merciful and hardly assigned my kids any work. Oh, did your family get back home okay? They enjoyed the wedding I hope?"

"Of course," Dinah smiled, settling down at the table next to her husband. "Mum said to give you their best and thank you again. I think everyone had a wonderful time, especially Aunt Mildred. Granted, she enjoys everything."

Sirius leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You're being babbly again."

"Oh, whatever," she said waving him away, "I haven't talked to Dinah in a week. You'll just have to get used to it. They're welcome," she told Dinah, "It was fun having them here. I actually had to talk Agrona and the rest of her class out of getting us some sort of present for letting them come. It's sweet but she wants to open a sweets shop like Puddifoot's someday and she can't do that if she's spending all her money buying presents.

"The pictures will be in next week. We'll have to have you two over to look at them. Okay, I know I'm babbling, but things are just so much…happier than they were last year."

Dinah exchanged a smile with Severus. "Well, that's certainly true," she agreed. "So let me try to address all the subjects you brought up somewhat it in order," Dinah chuckled. "So you say your nausea is better now?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "I haven't been sick since the wedding. Except," she said, when Sirius made to interrupt her, "for yesterday."

"That's odd," Severus murmured, looking thoughtful. "Why would it disappear for a week and then return? Have you talked to Poppy about it?"

Lucy shook her head, taking a bite of steak, "I didn't need to. I figured it out all on my own. It was nerves."

"We went to the Burrow yesterday," Sirius said by way of explanation.

"The Burrow... that's where your Weasley family lives. Oh! Did you tell them?" Dinah now looked anxious.

"Yes!" Lucy said, nodding vigorously. "They were _so_ much better about it than I thought they'd be too. I talked to Ginny and she's anxious to come and start learning the ropes. I also learned a few rather disturbing facts about my aunt and uncle that I won't share."

Severus snorted; "Not as innocent as they seem then?"

"Not unless strolls around the grounds until four in the morning are innocent." Lucy spied a copy of the 'stubby mandrake' picture on the coffee table. "Dinah?" she said, playing with her napkin, "when do you think I could get one of those alteredsound things?"

Dinah giggled, "Ultrasound. And the usual time is around sixteen weeks or so, but I went earlier. If you wait until sixteen weeks they_ could_ be able to tell you if your child is a boy or a girl. I don't know if you're interested. Severus and I have chosen not to find out, but you may feel differently."

Lucy looked at Sirius, wondering what he thought about the idea. "I don't know," he said, "We never considered that. I mean wizards don't find that out until the baby's born…"

"Then we won't find out," Lucy assured him, "I don't care either way." She took her husband's hand and placed it on her stomach, "By sixteen weeks I'm going to look ready to have the kid I'm sure. Maybe it's twins. After all it does run in the family."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Dinah piped in, stretching her robes over her abdomen. "I think I'm finally starting to show! Look!"

Lucy got up and inspected her friend's stomach from the side, "Yes! Look, Sirius! I'm not the only one who shows now! Of course you still have a few inches to go before you catch up. Maybe your baby's going to be small and mine's going to be huge or something."

Dinah laughed; "I think sometimes it's just genetics and the way our bodies choose to behave. The babies' too. For all we know it could end up being the opposite."

Lucy grinned, "Maybe, but at least I'm not the only one who looks pregnant now."

"Well, I'm actually _happy_ to be showing, I don't know what your problem is," Dinah teased with a good-natured smile.

Sirius smirked. _He_ was thrilled she was showing as much as she was.

Lucy gave her friends a lopsided grin, "Well, I don't mind so much _now_ really. It was before…when we weren't married and no one knew yet."

"Yes," Dinah smiled. "It must be so nice to have that off your chest. So when were you thinking of... announcing, you know?" She rested her hand on her stomach and frowned in consideration; "Now that we're both on the path to being obvious..."

"I don't know," Lucy said, frowning, "We haven't really talked about it much…I just hope it doesn't end up as front page news or something. After that ridiculous article about the wedding…the way Rita spun it you'd have thought the king was marrying the peasant girl who cleans toilets for a living."

"Oh! That looks delicious!" Dinah, out of the clear blue, began attacking the steak that she had been picking at only moments before.

Severus sighed, rolling his eyes at his wife before addressing the group; "It seems to me that it might be best if you both announced your pregnancies at the same time, in whichever manner you choose. Less shock for the students that way," his smirk suggested he didn't really care about the students either way.

"I hate to say this, but I agree with Severus," Sirius said, pulling Lucy back over to sit.

"Mmm," Lucy said, picking up her fork again. "You may be right, but I'd still like to wait a bit at least. Maybe until after the…ultrasound," she pronounced the word slowly.

"That sounds reasonable," Dinah agreed, and then regarded her steak with a sigh before pushing it away.

Exasperated, Severus put down his fork and shot her annoyed look.

"Hey, at least I ate half of it!" his wife retorted.

"Me too!" Lucy said, lifting her plate to show them.

"You're accomplishment isn't eating it," Sirius teased, "It'll be not seeing that half of the steak again."

"I think she'll be successful," Dinah smiled. "You say you've been feeling good for the past week, and I think you're going into your second trimester about now. I wouldn't worry."

Lucy grinned and stuck her tongue out at her husband. "Oh!" she said, turning back to Dinah, "You'll never guess…or maybe you will since you probably had to help her send it to me. Rosa owled me about a baby shower for you already."

Dinah grinned. "Oh good, it arrived. It should have been delivered by Rowena if you were paying any attention. Regular owls don't go to Muggles without a witch or wizard for assistance."

"Now that you mention it the owl was beige," Lucy blushed. "It'll be interesting if we both show up looking all fat and pregnant. I didn't mention anything about me, for obvious reasons. Not that I care if they know now and Rosa said it wouldn't be for a few months yet anyway. She enticed me with the possibility of loaning me some books."

Dinah grinned; "When she kept nagging me about a baby shower due to my lack of an organized hen party I suggested she get in touch with you and that you'd be more than happy to help her out. Actually, I had an ulterior motive," Dinah blushed. "I was hoping once it happened everyone would know about you and we could have a joint shower." She looked a little uncertain; "Would you want to do something like that?"

"Really?" Lucy asked, feeling tears start to well up. Much more and she'd be crying. "That's so nice," she sniffed, "I-I'd love to!" She finally broke down in tears.

"Lucy!" Sirius said, sounding worried, "It's okay! It's nothing to be upset over. You don't have to cry."

"Aw, Lucy, stop it!" Dinah said, sounding a little teary herself, but it passed quickly. Her friend chuckled and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you want to. Wow, if I had known you'd be so happy... are you okay?"

"Yeah," Lucy sniffled, and scrubbed at her face with a hanky. Sirius had taken to carrying them around with him all the time lately. "I'm sorry. It's just my stupid hormones and I imagine it's only going to get worse. Still, that's really nice of you to offer making it a double shower. You don't have to," a few more tears escaped but she had a tighter reign on her emotions now. "It'll give me a chance to wear my Muggle maternity clothes."

"I _want_ to, that's why I offered," Dinah smiled, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "We'd have to try to get everybody to come. Since it's more a girl thing Severus doesn't have go and be surrounded by Weasleys. And we can hold it wherever. If you want to wear the Muggle clothes I bet Rosa can host it at her place. But I suppose if you'd prefer one of your own with your wizard friends I'd understand."

Severus had been silent for a long time and looked a little frozen and out-of-sorts as he stared at Lucy with an expression that indicated he was certain she'd gone completely mad.

"Are you sure you want expose your friend and family to the Weasleys exploring the Muggle world? I mean aren't I bad enough?" Lucy grinned. When an apple pie appeared on the table she grabbed for it before Dinah could. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "I've been craving this _all _day."

"All day, every day," Sirius teased.

Dinah shrugged; "Well, it's up to you. I mean, I know Mum and Aunt Mildred will want to get you something but your group doesn't have to get me anything. I just thought a big joint party might be fun but I guess maybe it was a bad idea..." she shrugged a little and took a sudden interest in the small slice of apple pie she'd served herself.

"Dinah?" Severus's hand went to his wife's shoulder.

"I'm okay," Dinah wiped at her eyes. "I just had a dumb idea, that's all. Wow," she laughed. "This is just 'attack of the hormones day', isn't it?"

"Oh, Dinah, no!" Lucy said, horrified she might have hurt her friend's feelings, "A big party together would be fun! I was just teasing. It might be interesting to see Aunt Molly and Aunt Mildred spend more time together. I don't think they really got a chance to chat at the wedding. Shoot," she said, wiping at her eyes again, "I thought I had this under control."

Sirius sighed, "Whose plan was it that they both be pregnant at the same time? I'm not sure I can handle the emotional broom ride."

"Indeed," Severus agreed, tilting Dinah's face towards him to wipe the tears from her cheeks,

Dinah laughed, resting her head on her husband's shoulder; "Sorry boys. And you too, Lucy. Guess I misunderstood. I blame the hormones, not you, I promise," she smiled.

"I know how it is," she assured her friend.

"Maybe we should be going," Sirius suggested, "so you two stop making each other cry."

"But I'm not done with my pie!"

Dinah laughed; "Me either. I'm just a little hungry though," she indicated the small piece again, which was really more of a sliver in an interesting, but decidedly un-Dinah-like appetite middle ground. "See?" she looked from Severus to Sirius. "We're fine now."

"Yes, but we'll see how long it lasts," Severus sighed, folding and setting aside his napkin before pushing his plate away, apparently not interested in taking any pie.

"Okay," Sirius said, not looking convinced but, unlike Severus, he took a bite of the pie…the small piece Lucy had left him anyway.

"So your classes were good, huh?" Dinah tried to make conversation as she ate her pie slowly. Definitely un-Dinah-like. "It's so nice that your students want to give you a gift. Our classes were good too, but Severus has been refusing to call on Mae because he doesn't want to have to use her first name," she teased her husband, who growled a little. At least he was being true to character.

That got Lucy to giggle, "Yeah, they were good. Though I'm getting questions like: Where is Mr. Black? What does he do? Is he going to work here? If he doesn't have a job what does he do all day? Does he stay in your rooms with you? Obviously some of these are from the younger students."

"What do you tell them?" Sirius asked.

"How should I know what you do all day? I'm with the students. You do spend a lot of time grooming that big, black dog of yours though," she grinned. Lucy had come up with that as a way to explain the possible sightings of the 'attack dog' from last year.

Dinah grinned; "That's great! Saying that the dog is Sirius's. Or well that Snuffles is Sirius's. That Sirius belongs to himself." She giggled.

Severus rolled his eyes; "This giggling is hormone related too, isn't it?"

Sirius shrugged, "I don't know. I thought it had to do with the wedding and calling her 'wife' since that's when it started."

Dinah sighed; "They complain when we're happy and they complain when we're not happy. Honestly, we just can't win."

"It's true," Lucy agreed, shoving more pie in her mouth, "They act like we _want_ to be crazy people." She surprised herself mentioning the idea of being a crazy person like that, but was relieved to find it didn't bother her here, among her friends.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Mid-stride, on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Snuffles transformed back into Sirius. It would be another couple hours until Lucy was done with classes for the day and he'd enjoyed taking a run. It had been a nice day, but his good mood was ruined when he saw that animal abuser, Septimus Peaks. The horrible Slytherin boy had come upon Lucy in her animagus fox form last year. She'd been sleeping and he'd thought it'd be funny to kick Lucy and hit her in the head with a rock.

That boy had been lucky that Sirius hadn't been around, in either of his forms. Lucy had been fortunate Jania Whitehorn had been around and ran for help. That help had come in the form of Dinah, though she hadn't known just who she'd saved at that time. He should get her something really nice for saving Lucy…maybe something for the baby.

Lucy had come out of the ordeal with some cracked ribs, a nice concussion, and numerous cuts and bruises. Once he'd found out about the attack he'd had his then girlfriend up to Madam Pomfrey right away and gotten her healed up nicely. That didn't make him feel any warmer towards the little Death Eater in training, though.

"Mr. Black?" Peaks said, actually coming over to speak to Sirius. Didn't he know how much danger he was in?

"Peaks," Sirius nodded and kept walking, trying to get away from the boy before he did something that would get him kicked out of Hogwarts…or possibly thrown back into Azkaban.

"You know my name?" Septimus looked shocked.

"Yes," was all he said. He felt like he could use a few lessons from Severus about dealing with this particular student.

"That's great!" he sounded excited. This kid was actually excited Sirius knew his name? "My parents wanted me to introduce myself to you and tell you how much they admired your parents. They think they had the right ideas about blood status and stuff. Which is why they understand you marrying someone like Professor Ketteridge. I mean she might be related to those blood-traitors, the Weasleys, and I think she might be a blood-traitor herself, but she _is_ pureblood, at least that's what my parents say."

Sirius actually stopped walking and turned to glare at the boy. Normally he _liked _kids, was looking forward to having one of his own, but were Peaks's parents trying to get him killed or something. They had to know he had never gotten along with his parents. That wasn't a secret.

"First of all," he said through clenched teeth, "it's Professor _Black_ not Ketteridge. Secondly, my marrying her had nothing to do with her relatives, _any _of them. If your parents are trying to gain something from associating with the Black family, they're barking up the wrong tree. I suggest you stop listening to everything your parents say and start trying to form your own opinions. Your parents might not appreciate it but it'll be the best thing for you in the long run." Sirius was surprising himself with his restraint and his giving out advice to this young Slytherin.

"Mr. Black?" Septimus said, apparently questioning Sirius's advice.

"I mean what I said. You should also count yourself lucky that I'm not more like Professor Snape...your Head of House that is. If I were you'd likely have detention and a number of points taken away. As it is I can't do either to you. Now I'm going back inside to see if I can have some time with my wife before her next class." He took a couple steps before pausing to turn and say, "And I strongly suggest you leave any animals you happen upon alone."

* * *

><p>"You'll be happy to know I didn't kill one of your students today," Sirius told his wife as they cuddled together on their couch that evening. She was playing with her engagement ring, twisting it and her wedding band around her finger. It was an idle gesture. He thought it was cute and liked to believe it meant she was thinking about him.<p>

She giggled. It was just another thing he loved about her. Sometimes it bothered him that his death had taken that from her life but on the other hand the time they spent apart had helped to bring them to this point in their lives. And it was a good place to be.

"Is it some sort of accomplishment? Do you often kill my students and not tell me in the hopes that I won't notice or something?" she teased him.

"Well, no, but Peaks came up to me and tried to get into my good graces or something. His parents put him up to it. He more or less admitted to that and they seem to think I share my parents' ideals. I put him straight and told him to stop listening to his parents and get his own opinions."

"Really?" she asked, sitting up to look at him.

"Yes, and I warned him to leave the animals alone too."

"Aww," Lucy said, her eyes shining and her smile widening, "You're practicing your fathering skills. How sweet."

He wasn't sure what she meant by that comment but he wasn't about to question it either. Not with the way Lucy's lips were gently sliding over his, her nimble fingers undoing three or four of his buttons before he even noticed. It reminded him of the first time they'd made love after they found out about the pregnancy. They'd been gentle then too, he thought as his hands drifted down to rest on the baby he'd been so afraid of hurting back then.

That gesture seemed to ruin the mood a bit though as Lucy pulled back to look up at him and say, "That reminds me..."

"It does?" he interrupted, confused about what she was reminded about and what had done the reminding.

"Yes, I scheduled to have that ulterasound thing next Saturday. Or well, Dinah is scheduling it but we decided on that day, consulted Madam Pomfrey and everything; not that she knew what Dinah was talking about but still…"

"That's good," he agreed. Lucy's belly was definitely more pronounced than it used to be but he wasn't going to tell her that. Madam Pomfrey said she was right on track for where the books said she should be and hopefully Dinah's Muggle doctor would confirm the same. It probably wouldn't make a difference though; Lucy would still be self-conscious of her stomach. Thankfully her obsession with it had diminished after the wedding.

"You are coming, aren't you?" she asked him.

"Of course. Got to make sure the kid inherited your ears don't I?" Some people might consider it strange but Sirius loved Lucy's little ears.

"As long as it didn't inherit your tail," she said, kissing him and picking back up where she'd left off.

* * *

><p>"Dinah!" Lucy whined in the dungeon rooms, the morning of the <em>ultra<em>sound. "We have a problem. I have to wear Muggle clothes and those pants you got me don't fit. The maternity skirt is too big! When I tried it on it fell off. I can get the pants on but I can't get them to button and…"

Off to the side she saw Sirius turn to his former enemy and mutter, "We've been going through this all morning."

Severus sighed; "I would expect Dinah to forget about the ability to use a resizing charm, but not Lucy. She _is_ a pureblood witch, correct?" he raised an eyebrow at first Sirius and then Lucy.

"_Don't_ start with me," Lucy said, shaking a finger at the pair of them, though it was really Severus who she found more irritating at the moment. "I _am_ a pureblood witch as well you know, Severus Snape. If you're uncertain you can check with the Peakses who are apparently vetting my family tree to ensure I'm worthy of marrying into the Black family. I am pregnant! And sometimes I forget things! Okay?"

"You've been scolded, darling," Dinah teased, coming over and looping her arms around her husbands shoulders while he scowled at Lucy.

"Don't you make those faces at me. I'm not in a mood to take it," Lucy grumbled some more as she performed the resizing charm on the Muggle pants. Sirius, she noticed, wisely stayed quiet. Probably because she'd been snapping at him most of the morning. Turning to Dinah, she asked, in a much calmer tone, "Are you going to be getting another ultrasound?"

Dinah shook her head, "Nope, just you. Generally, you don't need to keep having them unless something is potentially wrong. Are we ready to go then?"

"I think so," Lucy nodded, "and this is completely safe, right?" It was irrational, she knew. Severus wouldn't have let Dinah go through it unless it was safe, but she still felt like she had to ask.

"Well, they put a foreign substance on you and push on your abdomen and the waiting room is a smelly Muggle hell and I'm sure all of the equipment is diseased, but-"

"Oh, stop!" Dinah swatted her husband. "Lucy, it's fine. Severus just likes to complain. You can ignore him."

Great. Now she was more nervous. "It smells? And they're going to push on me? That can't be good for the baby. Muggles do this all the time you say?"

Sirius, in an attempt to be comforting, put his arm around her shoulders and started to lead the group out of the castle and off the grounds. "Lucy, I'm sure it's fine. Just something different is all. If this ultrasound thing was bad for children there'd be far fewer Muggles wouldn't there?"

Lucy stopped and stomped her foot, not caring if the gesture was childish or not. "Why must everyone insist on being logical with me when I'm trying to be emotional?"

Dinah laughed; "Because it works? Anyway, they don't push. Severus just thinks that's what it looks like."

Sirius chuckled and pulled her along, "Listen to Dinah. She's the one who had it done to her, not Severus."

Lucy sighed, but stayed quiet the rest of the way out to where they were apparating from. It had been decided earlier that they'd apparate to Dinah and Severus's home before taking the car over to the doctor's office. It'd be more subtle then going straight to the office.

"This is just a doctor for pregnant women right?" Lucy said, getting nervous again. She hadn't been to an actual doctor's office or hospital since...visiting Anne actually, but it wasn't the Lupin's baby she was thinking of just then. "I mean, there's not like other wards in there?"

"It's a general practitioner's office," Dinah explained, using some foreign words. "But they have laboratories there and my doctor is also well-trained in obstetrics, so she can interpret the ultrasounds."

"So there's not a…you know, mental ward?" She could hardly say the words, but she had to ask.

"Lucy," Sirius said, "Even if there is, they're not going to keep you. I won't let them."

"Of course not," Dinah assured her. "It's just people coming in for routine examinations. It's not even an overnight place. You don't have to worry."

"All right," she took a deep breath, "We'll see you at the house then?"

"See you in a moment," Dinah grabbed Severus's hand and the Snapes apparated away.

"You really wouldn't let them keep me?" Lucy asked.

Sirius just smiled and shook his head, "I'd blow up the entire block to get you back."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: So sorry for the long wait! Hopefully this chapter makes up for it :)

* * *

><p>Chapter 14<p>

"You know," Lucy said, as they stood in Dinah's living room, "the last time I was here I was unmarried and didn't know if I was pregnant or not."

Dinah grinned; "Well, I hope you're happy that you're now married and do know that you're pregnant. You remember the guest room where you and Sirius changed at Christmas? You can go ahead and put your things there if you like."

Lucy nodded, "Yes. We'll be right back," she said, tugging Sirius up the stairs, "and don't worry we'll behave." They were quick leaving their bags in Dinah's guestroom and Sirius only made Lucy a little bit of a liar with some kisses that Severus would not have wanted to witness.

When they came back down to the living room, Lucy was still flushed and Sirius insisted on walking behind her, but she didn't think it was _too_ bad.

"Are we playing follow the leader?" Dinah asked with the classic Snape raised eyebrow at them.

That made Lucy's blush come back full-force.

"Um, no," Sirius said, stepping out from behind Lucy. Apparently he didn't have to hide now.

"We behaved. I promise. No clothes were removed, except to put on the Muggle ones and we stayed far, far away from each other then, and…"

"Now, now, relax," Dinah laughed, placing an affectionate hand on Lucy's shoulder. "You're fine. I'm not judging I'm just teasing."

Lucy gave her friend a sheepish grin, "Good to know. Are you going to drive or can I?" she asked, trying to take the focus off of what she may or may not have done in the guestroom

"I'm driving," Dinah's response was immediate and a little apprehensive.

"Oh, all right," Lucy said, a little disappointed. She hadn't really expected Dinah to let her drive, especially as she'd never driven a Muggle car before. Maybe she'd ask for lessons some time.

"Lucy, I think we all feel better about Dinah driving. You handle a broom well, but I'd rather get to the doctor's office in one piece," Sirius said.

Lucy stuck her tongue out at the group, even Severus who hadn't said anything yet, and marched out to the car, feeling rather hormonal again.

Dinah laughed as approached the driver's seat. "My doctor is going to start trying to get rid of me if I keep bringing unruly people into her office."

Lucy sighed, climbing into the back seat with Sirius, "I'll behave. Really, I'll probably be too busy staring at everything around me to bother with the hormones."

The drive to Dinah's doctor was just as fascinating to Lucy as her other two car rides had been, especially as she was seeing different parts of the city now. It was just as well Dinah hadn't let her drive, she thought. She'd have been too busy looking around to watch where she was going and that seemed very important when driving one of these Muggle devices.

Eventually though, they arrived at a building that Dinah parked next to, presumably the doctor's office. Stepping out of the car with Sirius's help, Lucy thought that this building didn't look much like St. Mungo's. It couldn't possibly be big enough to house a mental ward too…

"We go in the door and then…" Lucy trailed off as Dinah walked next to her, towards the building.

"And the infernal bell will go off," Severus growled, pointing at the ceiling as they pushed the doors open. Indeed, a bell of some sort rang out over their heads.

"Oh!" Lucy said, looking up and turning around, startled.

"It's just the door, Lu. Like Severus said. Now we have to go sign in. Up there at that window, right?" Sirius asked Dinah. He wasn't so distracted by the Muggle stuff all around him.

"Yes. I've already set up your appointment for you so you'll just have to fill out some paperwork. I think I've thought everything through already but we might need a confundus at some point, so just be prepared. Go up and give them your name and your appointment time and they should get your paperwork to you. Severus, _stop_!" she laughed at her husband, who was glaring murderously around the room.

"Look at these Muggles. Disgusting," he snarled. "Reading those dirty magazines. Talking on their ridiculous mobile contraptions..."

"Hostile, hostile," Dinah giggled. "And I think you mean soiled magazines, not 'dirty' ones."

Lucy and Sirius left the other couple behind for a few moments. Walking up to the window Lucy signed her name on the odd looking Muggle parchment, with an apparatus that looked nothing like a quill really, and told the women behind the window her name. The portly woman consulted some machinery that looked similar to Dinah's laptop, before handing Lucy a stack of papers to fill out while she waited.

"Wait where?" Lucy asked Sirius as they looked around the crowded room. Some people were coughing, some sneezing, one looked decidedly queasy, and a few looked very pregnant.

Eventually she spotted Dinah and Severus waving from a corner far away from the little window, well Dinah waved anyway. They had managed to find two free chairs and when the Blacks reached their friends Severus politely stood so that Lucy could have his seat.

"Thanks," she told him, grateful. She'd be even more glad for the seat if that queasy person actually threw up.

"Here," Dinah handed a small sheet of paper to her. "This is the address and phone information I constructed for you. Just copy it into the relevant spaces."

"All right," Lucy nodded, working at filling in all the little lines and spaces on the parchments. Eventually she came to a question she didn't know how to answer. "Dinah? What should I put here? It says 'emergency contacts'."

"Just put mine and Severus's address. Here," she grimaced, pulling a rectangular shaped object out of her purse thing and handing it to Lucy. "Just don't look at the picture. And I can give you my parents' address for the second one."

"All right," Lucy repeated, diligently copying the addresses Dinah gave her. She'd only had the forms filled out for maybe a minute when a different woman than the one behind the window called her name. Lucy stood, took Sirius's hand and turned to Dinah. "Are you coming too?"

"I think it might be best, if that's okay with you," Dinah said as she and Severus stood. "Just because this is the Muggle world and all and if I leave Severus out here in the infernal waiting room he might kill me."

"That's fine," Lucy agreed, "I mean with all that Muggle stuff back there I'm libel to slip and say something I shouldn't…"

The foursome walked up to the woman, who was waiting at a door for Lucy. Dinah must have known her because she greeted her warmly.

"Ah, Mr. Snape," the woman, whose name was Carla, turned a nervous glance and a nod to Severus. "You're here as well. This is a rather large group today, isn't it?"

"He'll be on his best behavior, I _promise_," Dinah teased, grasping the again scowling Severus's arm. "We're a pretty close group of friends so we're all coming back, yes."

"Yes, we are," Lucy nodded in agreement. In the back they went, following Carla to another, smaller, room with a funny looking table in it. She followed Carla's instructions and soon found herself up on that table with her gigantic belly exposed to the room. "Oh," she moaned, "It looks bigger from this angle."

"Lucy," Sirius shook his head, "How many times do I have to tell you you look fine? You aren't as big as you think you are. I doubt anyone in the waiting room thought you were pregnant."

"You look just fine," Carla smiled, grabbing an oddly shaped white tube and turning to Severus; "Do I have your permission to use this, Mr. Snape?"

"Don't ask me," Severus snapped back at her.

She turned to Lucy and Sirius, "Ready for this?"

"I think so," Lucy nodded. She was prepared, or at least she'd thought she was until that goo touched her skin. "That's cold!"

"Sorry about that," Carla apologized as she spread the goo around. After a moment she put a weird probe thing that Severus had warned her about onto the goo and pulled a telly over.

The telly was full of wavy black and white lines. "I think you need to adjust the telly. It's not getting very good reception," Lucy offered.

Dinah covered her mouth to stifle an apparent rush of giggles as she shook her head at Carla; "She's joking. She's joking."

"Oh," Carla, who had looked a bit confused at first, now appeared amused and laughed along with Dinah; "That was a good joke, Mrs. Black."

Lucy smiled, not really sure what she'd said wrong but glad Dinah had been there to cover it up. "Thanks."

Carla tapped at the telly screen. "If you watch closely, your baby should appear in a minute or so."

Lucy stared hard at the screen, not wanting to miss the moment. The wavy lines changed shape and patterns but she couldn't really make out what was what.

"And there it is," Carla said, grinning.

Lucy squinted at the screen but she still couldn't see anything.

"It looks as if the baby has hiccups too," Carla laughed a little, "Can you feel them?"

"No," Lucy shook her head, now desperately searching the screen for signs of a baby with hiccups.

"Well, that's not uncommon for a first time mum. You should probably be able to feel it within a month or so."

"I can't even see it," she finally admitted, feeling about ready to cry.

"Aw, yes you can," Dinah assured her, pointing to the screen. "See that? That should be the head right there. And the body and the arms... remember what my ultrasound picture looked like? Yours is farther along than mine, but..."

"Oh!" she gasped as she saw the shapes Dinah was pointing out, "There it is! Sirius, do you see it? It's so _tiny_."

"I see it," he said, his voice husky, as he wiped away a couple tears from Lucy's cheeks.

"Were you interested in finding out the sex?" Carla asked, "It looks like the baby's in a good position to see if you wish."

"No," Lucy shook her head, "We talked about it and we want to wait. But," Lucy reached out a bit, "Can I touch it?"

"Of course," Carla gave her and indulgent smile. "Many new mums want to touch the screen when they see their baby."

The women maneuvered the screen so that it was within Lucy's reach. The screen…felt like a screen. She hadn't expected that and looked over at Dinah, but didn't think she should say anything in front of Carla.

"That's inside me," she whispered, stroking the tiny head.

"Yeah, it is," Sirius chuckled, kissing Lucy on the temple.

"We did that," she said, "How did we do that?"

"Well, if I remember right, I was hungry."

"Oh, yeah," Lucy giggled, "You never did finish your spaghetti."

Carla, apparently sensing it was time to leave, said she'd leave the telly with the baby on it near by and go get the doctor.

Dinah smiled at Severus; "I remember you expressed similar wonderment over what we did when you and I were here last."

"Yes, well," he cleared his throat, looking quite embarrassed. "At least we didn't start discussing _spaghetti_ in front of the nurse," he raised an eyebrow at Lucy and Sirius, but it seemed more to get the subject off of him than anything else.

Lucy grinned, looking away from her baby for a moment, "It's not like we told her _where_ the baby was conceived. Not even you two know that. Tonks does, but she's the only one besides us…unless she told Remus."

"You told Tonks?" Sirius asked.

"Well, yes. She asked."

"I suppose you know where her children were conceived then?"

"Not Teddy," she shook her head, "but why do you think Anne's middle name is London?"

Sirius, shook himself a bit, "I let them use Grimmauld Place while we were gone…"

"Oh, it's not that bad. It's not as if we've never…Look," she started again, "we don't know that it was in our home and even if it was, it wasn't our bed and I doubt Remus would have left without cleaning the place."

"And you both realize that the doctor is going to be in here at any moment, correct?" Severus muttered, pacing back and forth in his jet black Muggle clothes, looking almost naked without the bat-like robes to emphasize his impatience.

"Hello," Dr. Laraby said cheerfully, coming into the room, "How are we doing?"

"Much better now that the first trimester is over," Lucy told Dinah's doctor.

The other woman smiled and nodded, "A lot of women feel that way. Especially if you've been suffering from morning sickness."

Lucy nodded, "Oh, yes. I had that. A lot of it." They chatted with the doctor awhile longer and eventually she handed Lucy a envelope.

"I expect you know what this is all about, having seen Dinah's, but these are some pictures from the ultrasound. If there's no further questions I think we're all set."

* * *

><p>"I want to frame this," Lucy sighed, staring at the picture of her unborn baby back at Dinah's house. "Put it on the desk in my office. Maybe make a copy and put it on my classroom desk too."<p>

Dinah giggled; "You'd have to tell everyone you're pregnant then. Don't forget there are Muggle-born and half-blood students who will know what that is."

Sirius grinned, "I think that's her plan."

"Well," Lucy blushed, "I don't want to make a big announcement at a meal. I think that would just make it a bigger deal than it needs to be. I thought maybe this would be a conversation starter. Once a couple students find out it'll spread quick enough. Or is that a stupid idea?"

"It's not stupid," Dinah shook her head. "But that leaves me wondering just when and how to make my own announcement..."

"Oh, I don't want to force you into doing anything!" Lucy said, worried she was putting her friend in the same position she had over the summer. Beside her Sirius was looking…serious about something.

Dinah and Severus's focus seemed to be more on Sirius as well. "What?" Dinah finally questioned.

"Lucy, can I ask you something?" Sirius questioned, sounding very serious.

"Of course," Lucy said. She couldn't imagine why he would think that he couldn't, but his change in mood was very strange.

"I know you and your father never got along so…what was it that made you go with him?" he asked out of nowhere.

She drew her knees up to her chin as best she could with her stomach in the way and glanced over at Dinah and Severus.

"We can leave the room if you want," Dinah offered.

"No, it's okay," Lucy told her," You can know." She closed her eyes and felt tears start to fill them as memories came rushing back. "He said he was taking me home and home sounded _so_ good right then. All I wanted at the time was for Mum to hug me and say that everything was going to be okay. That it would hurt and I would be sad, but eventually, things would get better. They would never be the same, but it wouldn't always hurt so much.

"Mum decorated my room there. She wrote little messages all over the walls, 'You're my favorite' and 'I'll always be here for you'. My favorite one, and one I didn't know was there until after she died, is right next to the head of my bed. It just says, 'I love you', but I wanted to see it, to feel close to Mum, so I could at least feel part of what I needed from her.

"Henley offered to take me there. I agreed. We never went home. I'm so stupid for thinking he might actually care about me but," she shrugged, "right then, I just…I thought maybe he did."

"Why did your mother stay with him?" Severus suddenly demanded, his tone a bit harsh but not directed at Lucy. "Why didn't she take you and get out?"

Lucy shook her head, brushing the tears away, "I don't know. She loved him I guess…that's not really an excuse though. Anything that was wrong between them always came down on me. If she'd have just gotten rid of me, if I'd never been, then they would have been happy. I don't really believe that and I don't think Mum did either."

"Hm. She 'loved' him, did she?" Severus snorted. "That's always what it comes down to, isn't it? And they can't escape for just that reason. She should have known she deserved better," he decided.

"Yes, she did," Lucy murmured. She lifted her face a bit to look Severus in the eyes. "I know your father was not a good man, but at least he cared enough to hate. The only time my father cares about me is when it reflects poorly on him." She shifted to curl her legs underneath her and rested a hand on her stomach. "I don't want him to know about the baby. I'm so…_so_ happy right now and I don't want him to touch this, to ruin it."

"You don't have to_ let_ him ruin it," Severus murmured, considering. "You can do what your mother could not. Perhaps for her sake as well."

"I intend to try," Lucy assured him, "but I've said I'm done before and then something happens and he shows up promising to make everything better. I fall for it because I want to believe he cares. If I had just been stronger, if I hadn't reacted the way I did..."

Sirius, who up till now had been silent, finally spoke, "If I hadn't gone to…"

"To what? Help Harry and the rest of the DA? They wouldn't have escaped. If something had happened to Harry you would have felt awful. You wouldn't have wanted to live with that. It sucked then but…can we stick to blaming it all on my father?" she grinned a little.

"I suppose…" Sirius said, looking unconvinced.

"Just promise me you'll love our child and everything will be fine," she said, somehow becoming the one who was comforting rather than needing comfort.

"I promise."

"Now, can we go back to plotting how Dinah is going to tell the students about her baby?"

Dinah sighed; "Yes, it's a dilemma. Well, maybe once you've made your announcement I can just throw mine out there. But where and how?"

"I don't know," Lucy shrugged, "I feel like any way you do it it's going to be awkward, but it has to be done. Maybe start introducing things about Muggle babies?"

"Oh, that just seems so... complicated and convoluted," Dinah sighed again. "Maybe I'll just tell them straight out. After all, they will probably be talking about you already anyway."

Lucy giggled, "Yeah. Well, if you've contacted Hermione already maybe her arrival will sort of break the ice. You'll have to explain why she's there after all."

"I didn't plan on her coming until after I told anyway."

"Ah, well that takes care of that idea. I'm sure you'll figure something out," Lucy said, trying to reassure her friend.

"I think I'll just announce it the day of or the day after you do. It might be awkward, but I think it's the best way." Dinah nodded. "Yes, I think that's the best way indeed."

* * *

><p>"Sirius?" They were laying in the guest bed, Lucy curled up into Sirius as was normal.<p>

"Hmm?" His eyes were closed, but she didn't think he was sleeping yet.

"What are you thinking?"

He opened his eyes and looked down at her. "I was thinking about sleeping, but if you've got something else in mind…"

"Well, I was thinking," she said, levering herself up on an elbow, "if it's a boy I think we should give him your brother's name. It'd be nice. After all," she trailed the fingers of her free hand over his bare chest, "he did try to do right in the end. Died for it in fact."

Sirius grabbed her hand, stopping its motion, "Why would you want to torture our child with a name like Regulus?"

"It's not that bad, but I was thinking more as a middle name."

"And if it's a girl?" he asked, bringing up her hand to kiss it.

"Jennifer," she whispered, "It was Mum's name."

"Then it's perfect. Any thoughts on a first name?"

"Not for a girl, though I do like the idea of sticking with the Black tradition of celestial type names. At least in part. I mean some of those names are just atrocious, maybe if they just _sound_ like that type of name…"

"And if it's a boy?"

"Owen. I read it in a book once and I've loved the name ever since. As long as you like it too. You have to like it too or we aren't using that name."

"Owen Regulus? It sounds nice. He's got a normal name and an insane Black one too. It fits us," he rolled to pin Lucy beneath him and kissed her. "Do you think this bed squeaks?"

Lucy grinned and kissed his collar bone, "Why don't we find out?"

It didn't take long for them both to be naked. Sirius kissed his way down her body, being extra gentle when he reached the swell of her stomach where their child was growing. Without too much fuss he entered her and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He thrust a couple times before Lucy spoke up, "Can we move a little away from the headboard? It's doesn't hurt, I'd just rather not wake Dinah and Severus. We _are_ in their house after all." Sirius complied, scooting them down and more towards the middle where they did indeed find one squeaky spot before they finished that night.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Dinah rested against Severus with her eyes closed, somehow having ended up on top of him with her head on his chest after they had finished enjoying each other. They had both been unable to resist, despite their guests' presence next door. It was just so nice to be back home again after a month. It wasn't as if it mattered, though. There had been some conspicuous squeaking from next door anyway. And here Dinah had thought the guest bed was newer than that.

Dinah liked this position, with her ear pressed up against her husband listening to his heartbeat. She knew from a discussion over the summer that Lucy often enjoyed the same thing with Sirius. It _was _quite soothing.

They didn't fall asleep right away, just lay there comfortably, Dinah listening to Severus's heartbeat and even breathing and Severus idly stroking her hair. Her thoughts started to turn over the events of the weekend so far. She was glad that she had been able to get Lucy in to her doctor to have the ultrasound. It was a wonderful experience she had truly wanted for her friend.

Dinner had been nice. Dinah had ordered out from a Muggle place when she and Lucy had had a sudden joint-craving for pizza as they reminisced about their summer visit in July. Of course, this pizza had not had shrimp on it. Which was just as well because apparently too much seafood was bad for pregnant women.

They had played cards. Severus had won as usual. And they had just talked. She frowned as she recalled one particular topic of discussion, and the various places it had led. Sighing, she asked; "Are you all right?"

"Me?" Severus questioned, seeming a little surprised at her sudden vocalization as well as at what she was specifically saying; "Why wouldn't I be?"

"That stuff with Lucy about her father. The questions you asked her. I meant to talk to you about it sooner but it drifted out of my mind with the events of the night."

He sighed; "I'm angry. When I think about it. You know I consider it an injustice that things of that sort are done to any women anywhere. And that they just sit back and take it."

It was Dinah's turn to sigh. "I know. I wish Lucy had had it different. I wish you had too."

"Which is why I tried to convince Lucy to change things. We need to toughen her up, Dinah. She has no reason to be afraid of her father's potential actions. She can stand up to him, fix the problem, and stop letting it affect her so much. She needs to figure that out. And sooner rather than later due to the fact that she is about to become a mother herself."

Dinah smiled. "That's sweet. You're such a nice person, Severus."

"Yes, well…" he grumbled, clearing his throat, "Don't tell anybody."

"I think everybody who matters already knows." The slight growl that she heard amplified through his chest and her general knowledge of his mannerisms told her that he was blushing. She laughed, "Don't be embarrassed. It's a good thing, I promise."

"So you say," he sighed, but his body relaxed again.

"Mm, so I do," she agreed, smiling again, starting to feel cozy enough that she knew she would drift off to sleep soon. "I'm glad you're mine."

"Always."

The days when the word 'always', spoken by Severus, referred only to Lily were a thing of the past. The word was now, and had been for a long time, wholly and unequivocally Dinah's.

And it made her the happiest woman in the world.

* * *

><p>"Excuse me Professor?" Astoria Greengrass, and Draco Malfoy's girlfriend, raised her hand just after Lucy had started the class.<p>

"Yes, Miss Greengrass?"

"I'm curious. What is that picture with all the wavy lines?"

"Oh," Lucy blushed, not able to keep herself from grinning, "That's my baby. And Mr. Black's too," she added.

"A baby?" most of the class exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm pregnant and within the week I shall be getting an…assistant I suppose you could call her. She will be observing the class and learning how it's run. She'll also be sitting in on my office hours. Her name is Miss Weasley. Some of you might remember her from last year. Miss Weasley is going to be here so that she can be available to take over the class if I happen to need any sudden time off."

* * *

><p>By lunch time everyone was whispering about how Professor Black was having a baby. Students were looking and pointing, but Lucy didn't care. Looking around the table, she smirked. She half-wondered what Professor Slughorn thought of this. If he'd though she should quit on becoming a wife, what must he think about her staying on after becoming a mother?<p>

"I understand congratulations are in order," Eugene said, sitting in his seat beside the couple.

"Yes. Thank you," Sirius said, looking as proud as could be.

Lucy laughed, "Would you stop looking like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're incredibly proud you got me pregnant."

"Well, I am," he said, smiling at the other man

Eugene grinned back, "It is an interesting feeling I imagine. On one hand you're excited about the baby, but on the other there's just something about knowing you were able to create a life with the woman you love…"

"Exactly," Sirius said, "Eugene understands."

Lucy rolled her eyes and ate her hamburger, with extra tomatoes. A quick glace told her Dinah still hadn't made her announcement yet, if the way she was nervously shifting in her seat was any indication. She hoped Dinah was able to tell the students soon. Especially as she wouldn't be able to hide it much longer.

Lucy's own robes were no longer fitting like they used to. Well, at least the focus wasn't, and wouldn't be, completely on Dinah and Severus the way it was last year…

* * *

><p>Dinah sighed as her first group of seventh years shuffled into her classroom. After her previous round of second years had been able to talk about nothing besides the school's resident pregnant professor, she figured she could not really wait any longer. She would open this class with the announcement. It wasn't as if the students were showing any sign of paying attention to her lesson anyway. The discussion was still all on Lucy.<p>

"Now, now, settle down," Dinah surprised herself by pushing her nervousness aside and addressing her class as normal. Yes, she had most definitely come a long way from the insecurities of last year. "I know there is a lot going on right now what with today's news and you all want to talk about it and think through how things might change in this school over the next year… yes?" she called on none other than her 'almost family friend' Astoria Greengrass.

"Does this mean there's going to be an actual… _baby _in the school?"

"Yes. Two, in fact." There. That ought to get the questions started.

"Professor Black didn't say that!" a boy gasped. "Is she having twins?"

Dinah chuckled. "Well, I really couldn't say for sure. I don't believe so, but I suppose it's possible even if there was no other baby visible on the ultrasound."

"How did you know about the ultrasound?" a Muggle-born girl asked.

"Simple. I was the one who took Professor Black to have it done. You didn't think she went to the Muggle word and had it performed on her _own_, did you?"

That started up some more general muttering and discussion. Dinah caught bits and pieces of it including a Hufflepuff girl saying something along the lines of, "Oh, that's right, Professors Snape and Black are friends, aren't they?"

A Slytherin boy was saying, elsewhere in the room; "And Mrs. Professor Snape is a Muggle-born so she would know about those things. I still don't understand why our head of house married a…" but Dinah didn't get a chance to hear if he said the offensive word or not because other people's conversations overpowered him.

Ultimately, Dinah had to ask them to settle down again. "Well," she smiled, "I hate to say this but I have even _more _shocking news for you all to contemplate." She dug into her desk drawer and withdrew her own precious ultrasound picture, sliding it from the envelope and holding it up so that the whole class would see; "I am also having a baby."

There was a rush of shocked exclamations and loud talking. Dinah could not isolate any words at all this time, people were talking over each other so much. Finally, someone's hand shot up; "With Professor Snape?"

She had to laugh; "Yes, with Professor Snape. Who else?"

"But that means…!" a Gryffindor boy trailed off, gaping at Dinah with the realization of what it meant. The rest of the student body, collectively, seemed to register the same shock.

Dinah sighed. "Well, we _are _married. What did you expect?"

This time, they were shocked into silence. At least for a few moments. Then the muttering started up again. From what Dinah could catch, it 'made sense but they had never really thought about it before', was 'shocking that the greasy git was capable of such things' or, from the more respectful Slytherin students, 'disturbing that Professor Snape was having all sorts of sex with a Muggle-born so close to their common room', and some bragging students 'knew that already but it was still weird to think about'.

Dinah almost wondered if she should have started off telling a younger group of students instead. But it probably didn't matter. "All right, that's enough. Please be careful about saying anything offensive if you don't want to lose points," she warned as the students quieted again and there was some general nodding. "What is it, Astoria?" she asked as the girl in concern's hand shot up once more.

"So are you and Professor Black who you meant by two babies or are _you _having twins? Can you tell on that weird picture?" she asked, surprisingly curious about the ultrasound as she squinted up at it.

Dinah had almost forgotten she was still holding the image up, but she smiled and shook her head. "Not on this one, and again I don't think I'm having twins either. I was referring to the babies of myself and Professor Black which are currently due to be born a month apart in February and March. Mine's February," she set the picture down on her desk. Some students seemed disappointed that they couldn't look at it anymore.

The questions, thankfully, shifted mostly to babies after that, although there was some marveling about the fact that 'Mr. Professor Snape' was going to be a father when he apparently hated children. Granted, the Slytherin students defended him again saying that he liked _them_, anyway, so hopefully the baby would end up in their own house. Dinah had to steer the conversation off again before people started being offensive.

And ultimately, in what was sort of an ironic turn of events, she _did _end up devoting most of the class to discussing Muggle pregnancy and child-rearing customs as Lucy had suggested over the weekend. And the students actually paid attention… a little bit.

* * *

><p>Severus had – rather stupidly – not paid attention to the loud conversations he heard outside his office as he graded papers during his mid-afternoon break. He was used to the students rushing past going on and on about Lucy's pregnancy ever since she had revealed it this morning. Yes, Dinah was supposed to be telling her own students the news at some point today or tomorrow, but he had been trying not to let it worry him and just let his wife make her own decisions. When he heard mutterings about babies, consequently, he assumed they were talking about Lucy's.<p>

Then his seventh years came into class and just stared at him from their seats. Gaping at him as though…

He growled and resisted the urge to turn and look for Eugene standing next to him. He wasn't used to begin gaped at unless he was an awkward teenager being forced to endure classes with a difficult 'helper' lousing everything up. He did _not _like the déjà vu. Perhaps he would go and hex Eugene this evening just for his own morbid enjoyment, as he had often done with James Potter ages ago. Ah yes, those were the days…

Instead, he snarled out at the students; "_What_?"

"Professor Snape's having a baby!" a Gryffindor boy blurted out.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn, Mr. Carmichael. Yes, Professor Snape is having a baby. What about it?"

"You're the father!"

"Thank you for telling me, I did not know," he sneered, trying to balance out his anger at the students with the slight satisfaction that they now _had _to acknowledge the fact that he was a normal man. "Five more points from Gryffindor for your inane comments. Does anyone _else _have something that they would like to say? You!" he jabbed his wand at Astoria Greengrass's hand, one of the many ones sticking up out of his sea of N.E.W.T.-level dunderheads.

"With all due respect, Professor Snape," at least Draco Malfoy's girlfriend had some finesse, "Our class of seventh years seems to be the first to find out about all of this. We're kind of feeling like we're some kind of chain being sent to first Professor Black's class, and then to your wife's, and then here to try and make sense of this."

"Lovely sentiment, Astoria," he said sarcastically. "So very sorry for your distress, but what does that have to do with me and your performance in this class, which I keep reminding all of you is N.E.W.T. level now and you will all fail and not survive in the real world if you do not focus."

"Um… nothing, I guess. I was just saying that's why we are all a little… surprised."

"Thank you for the information. What exactly is so surprising about married couples having a baby? Don't answer that!" he shouted as hands began to shoot up. "We are getting off topic. If you would all like to make this into the same marriage-question charade that occurred at the beginning of the year I assure you all of your houses will have zero points by the end of our two hours. Now does anyone else have something to say?"

To his immense satisfaction, the students were silent and no more hands were raised. They had lost enough points at the beginning of the year to know what they were up against. But the older students were better in the first place, he realized with some trepidation as he started class up. What kinds of things would the younger students be saying tomorrow? What would the discussions of the entire student body be like at dinner? And worst of all, what would the press do when they got ahold of this information?

He did not want to know.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_Hogwarts__ A Nursery School__?_

_Professors Snape who 'fell in love and got married' last spring are rumored to be expecting a new little addition to their cozy lives. This writer was not privileged with an interview with the couple in question but has learned from anonymous sources that their bundle of joy is due to arrive in late February. Mrs. Professor Snape has reportedly seen Muggle doctors and had pictures taken of the child pre-birth. One wonders if they were looking for the pass on of Mr. Professor Snape's nose. _

_In other interesting news; it seems Professor Black, formerly Ketteridge, who wed Sirius Black, sole heir to the Black family estates and former Prisoner of Azkaban, the weekend after school was back in session, is also reportedly expecting. Sources say the Black's baby is due mid-March. If one does the calculations one would discover that the dates do not match up. Is it possible this addition was the reason for the wedding last month?_

_In truth this writer is not shocked as the couple resided together both at 12 Grimmauld Place and a house in Hogsmeade prior to the marriage. One would be stupid to believe former playboy Sirius Black and Miss Ketteridge slept in separate bedrooms, especially as Black used to sneak into Hogwarts for the night last year. With questions about the necessity of Professor Black's class swirling one wonders if this is the right time to expand the family._

_Regardless of the appropriateness of these additions, they will be ushering in a new era for the school, and perhaps, teaching our youth about the birds and the bees too._

Lucy growled and crunched the paper together, throwing it on the floor.

"Bad news?" Sirius asked, sitting across the table from her. They'd decided to skip breakfast in the Great Hall today and sat sipping tea that morning.

"Horrible, horrible woman!" Lucy sputtered, not answering his question. "How could she-? That's just mean and rude and, and…What did I ever do to her? I mean, I did threaten her once but is that any reason to…" It must have been her hormones that were making her shift from angry to devastated in seconds. She couldn't go on really, she was crying so hard.

Sirius stood and, remaining calm, picked up the paper, handing Lucy a hanky, which she snatched out of his hand. They'd both quickly learned there wasn't much he could do to make the crying better. She did appreciate the hanky though, even if she didn't show it in that moment.

"Ah," he said after a few moments spent reading, "Well, I guess I'll be killing all the beetles I come across."

His voice was calm but…it was almost too calm.

"Sirius, don't," she said, her tears starting to slow.

"No one would know, since she's unregistered and all…"

"I don't care. Hex her all you want but don't kill her."

"Maybe Severus and I can work together on that. It'll be our little project," he grinned.

That made Lucy laugh, stopping her tears altogether. "Now, that would be newsworthy. But still, Dumbledore fought the Board of Governors to get them to allow my class. They haven't been thrilled with it at all and now Rita's bring up questions about my morals…"

"Honey, she might as well blame your morals on me. Did you notice she didn't say much about Severus or Dinah?"

"She's probably scared of him…and Dinah. I guess I wasn't very scary with my threats. It's a wonder I made it through Auror's training."

"Because you can be intimidating when you need to be."

Lucy snorted, "I'm glad you think so. I think I'm going to go see what Dinah and Severus think of this. Did you want to come?"

"Of course. I'm curious about Severus's reaction too." Sirius clutched the paper as he led Lucy out the door.

They walked through the halls hand-in-hand. The students would stare as they walked by, some even turned their heads to keep looking, one even stopped them to ask 'were they really having a baby?'. Sirius chucked and assured the student that, yes, they were.

A few more stares and giggles and the Blacks made it to the Snapes door. Knocking, they waited to be allowed entry.

There was some stomping and then the door was flung open to reveal Severus with an angry scowl on his face, shouting; "What?" He paused for a moment and his brow furrowed, but he did not look any less annoyed. "Oh. It's you two. Get in," he ordered, stepping aside for them.

Sirius pushed Lucy in ahead of him. "You saw it too then?" she asked, pointing at the paper in Sirius's hand.

"Yes," Severus slammed the door behind him and ushered them into the sitting room, again slamming the door to his office as they left it. "And I am in the midst of dealing with both that and a very surly pregnant woman as a result of that. Consequently, I am not in the best of moods. However, it did not escape my notice that Miss Skeeter chose to attack you both in that article more than she attacked us."

"Yeah, we noticed that too," Sirius frowned, "Though she managed to get a few good pokes in at you in that short amount."

"He threatened to kill all the beetles he could find," Lucy said, "I told him you two could work on hexing her together instead."

"Oh. I have already put together a list of possible curses," he smirked. "Would you like to see it?"

"Right now if you've got time," Sirius said, "I can practice them today."

Lucy grinned, kind of wondering what James would have thought of this strange friendship between his best friend and his arch-nemesis. "So, is Dinah hiding in the bedroom?" she asked Severus.

"Bathroom, last I checked," Severus said, producing a piece of parchment and handing it over to Sirius. "She would not let me put Sectumsempra on there. Pity. Though I'm surprised with her current mood she wasn't suggesting performing the curse on the woman herself. I'm afraid her behaviors this morning are making little sense."

"I heard that!" an annoyed voice shouted as Dinah stormed out of the bathroom, smoothing her robes and running a brush through her hair. She placed her hands squarely on her hips. "How do I look? You'd better say good." She had, for some inexplicable reason, seemed to have put on more makeup than usual today, and had pulled her hair half back on one side with a flower barrette.

"Good," Severus replied as ordered. "But what exactly is the point of this?" he gestured to her ensemble.

"Don't you know anything?" she shrieked. "Oh, hello Lucy. Sirius." She turned back to her husband. "Minerva is announcing the game night at lunch today. I might have to get up and make a speech. Why this article has to come out now, of all things, when I am trying to set this up and enduring appetite issues and don't you dare say hormones!"

Severus sighed, turning to Lucy and Sirius, "See what I have to put up with?" he winced when Dinah swatted the back of his head.

"At least she's not hysterically crying," Sirius muttered.

"Hey!" Lucy protested. She was actually still upset about the article, probably more than he realized, but if he actually killed Rita…even if it was in beetle form and no one ever knew, she'd still be worried that someone would find out. Of course, he was just trying to protect her and she did appreciate that… Lucy didn't believe he'd actually kill Rita but… She didn't know what she was thinking anymore, probably because of those hormones Dinah wouldn't let anyone mention.

Severus's eyes flickered briefly to Lucy before returning to Sirius slightly more subdued; "Yes, that is a blessing, I'll admit. But neither of our wives' reactions will change the fact that the article was indeed published and Miss Skeeter needs to suffer... further consequences."

"_Don't_ kill her," Lucy reiterated. She turned to Dinah and asked, "How are you doing? Have you eaten? How do you think Rita even knew about half of those things?"

"Students," Dinah said bitterly. "It's always students. There are still some bad seeds out there that feel like they need to owl their judgmental parents with other peoples' news the minute they hear it. You're right, Severus. They're all infernal dunderheads."

"So glad you agree," Severus said, looking amused to hear his wife speak a word that was specific to his native northern England. "And no, there will be no killing involved. Killing is too merciful anyway. Suffering is much more attractive."

"Good," Lucy sniffed. "Not _all_ of them are dunderheads, but Septimus…he's definitely one. Others too, I'm sure. I don't know…I just don't know. And we're expected to teach these kids?"

"We can't try to identify the culprits, it would probably just make things worse," Dinah said. "We just have to endure it. But..." she hesitated, "I don't know. These game nights might help if I do them right, encouraging kindness and understanding between individuals. But how much do you want to bet Rita will find out about it and write some awful report?"

"Oh, I'm sure she will." A tear or two snuck out but nothing too bad, "I'm sure I can help out if you need it."

Severus looked disgruntled but Dinah's expression softened. "Thank you, Lucy," she said, giving her hand a squeeze. "I'm sure I can handle it. But if you want to come by that's fine. It's up to you. I don't know how the students will behave at all and it might be nice to have an extra person around, keeping an eye on how things play out. Minerva will be there, of course, observing the first session..."

"Okay," Lucy nodded, trying not to cry, she knew Severus hated it when she did that, "We'll see what Wednesday brings. Hopefully these hormones quit before class. I can't be crying all day. Luckily I have all the younger classes today so maybe they'll be more understanding or something."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," the mention of hormones no longer seemed to faze Dinah as she nodded; "It's surprising how getting out there in front of the students puts you in control. I mean, I was terrified about telling them yesterday but once class started it just came out, all business. No hand-wringing or anything!" she looked exceedingly proud of herself at that statement.

Severus managed a slight, approving smile at his wife before standing. "Speaking of classes, I must get to mine. You're both welcome to stay, until of course Dinah kicks you out."

"Oh, I will not!" Dinah laughed, waving as her husband left. _Her_ mood seemed to have improved at least.

After Severus left, Lucy sighed and plopped down on the green couch. "He doesn't like it when I cry, does he?"

Dinah laughed; "I think he just doesn't know how to handle it. You do spring it on him at the most random times, you know," she grinned to show she was teasing.

Lucy bit her lip, a little embarrassed, but giggled, "I know. Though really, anymore it's those dreaded hormones. In a way I'm glad it's all out there now. Students, parents, everyone knows we're pregnant so we can't be accused of hiding it."

"Being accused of hiding things is the worst," Dinah agreed with a sigh, settling down into a chair. "I have had that happen to me much too often. I know you have, too."

"Yeah," Lucy nodded, "What happens if they fire me? If they get rid of my class? I don't want that...Am I being stupid? You can tell me I'm being stupid."

"You're not being stupid, Lucy. Don't say that," Sirius said.

"But-"

"No. You've said your father used to say that to you. Don't do it to yourself. Don't let him make you think of yourself like that," Sirius looked annoyed. Not at her though, at her father she was sure.

"Yes, don't do that. Sirius is right, Lucy," Dinah said. "Nobody should have to make you feel bad about yourself like that. Especially when there's no reason for it."

"Oh," she said, embarrassed, "I guess I never thought about it like that. It's just always been my normal to say things like that. Probably because I'm used to hearing it."

Sirius didn't say anything that time. He just sat down next to her on the couch and hugged her from the side, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

Dinah sighed again and closed her eyes, leaning back in the chair. "Well... realization is the first step."

Lucy looked over at her friend, who looked about ready to go to sleep. "This morning has been a little much I think. I think I'm going to go back to our rooms and lie down. Enjoy your nap," she said, as Sirius helped her up.

"Mm. Sounds like a good idea. You too."

"Thanks," she said, as Sirius took her out of the room and back upstairs for that nap.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Wednesday started off normal enough. Except for the expected rumblings about the babies, the Skeeter article, and Dinah's first ever game night. Lucy thought she was doing a good job of not looking worried on the outside. At least no one looked at her funny or asked if she was okay, so she must not look as stressed about the situation as she felt.

Lucy made it through the morning and most of the afternoon without incident. She sat at her desk, preparing to start her last class of the day, her fourth years, when the students started looking at her funny. Was there something wrong? Did she not look mentally stable like she had in the past, even though the students hadn't realized it? Did they know something she didn't?

Then that infernal dunderhead, to borrow Severus's term, Septimus, raised his hand. The gesture was unusual enough from him that Lucy just stared at him for a minute before calling on him.

"Um, Professor?" Septimus started, his voice shaking a bit. Why was her normally cocky, rude student so…afraid? "_What_ is that dog doing here?" The fourth-year Slytherin pointed to a spot behind her.

"What dog?" Lucy asked, turned to look where Septimus was pointing. "Oh!" she gasped, seeing Snuffles curled up in the corner by a bookshelf, "Why hello." She had no idea what Snuffles was doing there but she was elated she'd appeared calm on the outside.

The dog stood up and trotted over too her, laying his head on her lap. She scratched his head and told the class, "This is Mr. Black's dog, Snuffles. He probably just followed my scent here. I assure you he might be large but he's perfectly harmless. So if you see him running around the grounds don't be alarmed."

"It's that attack dog from last year!" Septimus yelled, "It nearly bit off my arm!"

"He did no such thing," Lucy almost snapped. As it was she didn't say it in the nicest of tones. "He _is_ very protective of me and Mr. Black, probably the baby too when it comes. Snuffles probably just felt you were threatening me."

"But-but-but…he's vicious! He shouldn't be allowed in school!"

"The Headmistress is fully aware of Snuffles's presence here and as I said before he's harmless. Do you think I'd let him be near my baby if he wasn't?" Lucy didn't wait for Septimus to answer her; she just pointed to the corner where Snuffles had been laying and ordered, "Lay down." The dog obeyed, but whined from his new spot. "Stay," she said, firmly. "Now, it's time to start class."

* * *

><p>"How did it go?" Severus asked as Dinah came back into the dungeons late Wednesday evening.<p>

She sighed and went over to him where he stood next to the table sorting through some potions ingredients, apparently. "Not bad, really. For a first time. Thanks for coming in the beginning, by the way. Have I thanked you for that yet?"

"Many times," his lips twitched slightly. He had stayed as long as it took for her to explain the 'game night' to the students, mostly glaring stone-faced out at them as usual, but his presence had been nice.

"Okay, good," she smiled. "Lucy stayed for about half of it before she got tired or something and had to go back. After that it was just me and Minerva." She sighed, "I don't know. Some of the students grumbled about it being stupid, but I think at least half of them enjoyed it somewhat. Getting them to sit two people from each house to a table, though…" she frowned, "I mean, they still stuck so close to their friends. Even Terrence, Kathleen, and Archie ended up at the same table. I mean, I know they're not really my target audience because they're already friends from three different houses, but I wanted them to make _new _friends, you know?"

"Mm," he seemed a little overwhelmed by how much information she had just dumped on him, and thus did not comment further.

It was all right, though. Dinah just kept talking. "And then, some of them didn't really _do _anything for the period. I told them they don't have to play games they just have to stay at the table and do whatever. Talk, you know. But some of them just sat there. Or they only talked to the person they brought with them from their own house. Which isn't what I want. I think the younger students were more inclined to sit with different people and talk with them. The first years especially, since they haven't really solidified their friendships yet. The older ones are going to be tough. They've got their groups and their cliques and…" she sighed and shook her head. "But it will get better as it goes on, right? Don't you think?"

"I don't see why it wouldn't."

Dinah frowned a little bit at her husband's generic answer. But really, what else could he say? She just had to wait and see how it worked. She shrugged, trying not to sound too flippant. "Well, I guess all in all it went okay. Did I say that already? Well, it did. It went okay. There was still some talk about the baby and the articles, though. Now I just have to wait for the more disgruntled students to send letters to their Mums and Dads about how stupid the game night was and Rita can write another article. Unless you use some of those curses and put her in St. Mungo's first. Could you do that?"

"I'll get right on it," he smirked.

"Don't be snarky, I'm not in the mood."

"You haven't been in the mood since Monday. I'm getting used to it." His annoyed expression indicated that he wasn't really as used to it as he said.

"Yeah, well, that's not my fault!" she snapped, then sighed again. "Look, I'm sorry. I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

"It isn't as though I don't understand that," he murmured his response, looking less annoyed and more resigned, but sincere.

"I know," she sighed a fourth time. "At least I've kicked off the game nights. Now if only these ridiculous butterflies would leave my stomach. Come to think of it…" she paused, resting her hand on her abdomen as the curious sensation continued. Without warning she gasped and shot off to the bookshelf, snatching a pregnancy book and flipping to the index in the back. She growled a little when there was no listing for 'feeling' but finally found what she was looking for under 'movement'. Turning to the indicated page she read the words there and the 'butterflies' were joined by even more of them. Real ones this time, she presumed, because the others… "A fluttering…" she whispered, reading the description from the book.

She gasped again and turned to Severus, who was staring at her looking _extremely _confused. "Severus!" she exclaimed. He inclined his head toward her a bit, demanding an explanation. "I feel it! It's-" she ran up to him, her hand still pressed to her abdomen. "I can feel the baby. It's moving! I…" she felt tears welling in her eyes and shook her head. "I feel it for the first time. You try."

He still seemed a little stunned but reached his hand out and placed it gently across her stomach, frowning in consideration. "I don't… feel anything, Dinah."

"It's there. A fluttering. The book says it's like a fluttering. It's been hitting me off and on all day. Our stubby mandrake is fluttering in me, Sev."

Her husband's frown deepened as he moved his hand a little, trying to feel what she was feeling. Finally, he shook his head, looking almost guilty. "I'm sorry, Dinah. I don't feel anything at all."

"It's okay," she shook her head, wrapping her arms around him and burying her smiling face in his neck. He held her just as tightly. "They say that at this early stage sometimes only the mother can feel it from the inside and nobody can from the outside yet. It's normal. You'll feel it soon. Oh, Severus…" she felt a couple tears slip out, but it was a good feeling.

"Dinah?" he tilted her chin up to face him, his gaze concerned, "Why are you crying?"

She laughed, wiping her eyes, "It's just hormones, that's all. Besides," she grinned, her mood predictably shifting again, "You know what this means?"

He shook his head.

"It means I'm in a much better mood now. And you know what _that _means?" That got him to raise an eyebrow and she giggled; "Come on!" she snagged his hand and positively dragged him into the bedroom, pushing him down onto the bed and climbing on top of him, smothering him with kisses. It was not long before her actions stimulated a response in him.

"I should thank our stubby mandrake for this mood switch," he purred, sliding his hand through her hair.

"Yes, you should," she grinned, kissing him again.

He smiled when their tongues and lips separated, pulling her tight against him, "I'm glad you can feel the baby."

"Me too. But it's stopped now, which is just as well. Ahh," she sighed, content as she propped her elbows on his chest and began to slowly and teasingly unbutton him, unable to stop smiling, "I guess we should be glad Rita's starting to back off on us, huh? I mean, she could have said a lot worse things. Let's look on the bright side."

"Look who's Mrs. Optimist all of a sudden," Severus chuckled. "Still, though, her comment about my nose…"

"Oh, don't worry about that!" she finished unbuttoning him and then slipped off her own robes.

Severus was frowning now; "But what if the baby _does _have my nose?"

Dinah decidedly pinned him back to the bed and planted a kiss on the tip of the nose in concern.

That got him to smile. "Well… I suppose perhaps they will meet somebody who accepts it, as you do mine."

"I'm sure they will. But let's not marry them off when they're not even born yet," she smiled.

"Fair enough," he agreed, pulling her back to him, and then they were laughing and kissing again as they began a night full of indulgences.

Things were most definitely looking up.

* * *

><p>Lucy trudged into the bathroom after having left Dinah's game night early. She showered, changed and crawled into bed, feeling as if she was moving in slow motion the entire time. She hadn't gotten a nap that day and Sirius's visit to her class in the form of Snuffles only served to remind her that she couldn't take her animagus form for another few months at least.<p>

In bed, she faced away from Sirius, who was reading the _Evening Prophet_, and tried to sleep. She just kept _thinking_. She'd received a couple letters before the game night from parents about 'her loose morals', but nothing too bad or threatening. Really she'd only gone to the game night to try and distract herself. Not that she didn't want to help Dinah, it was just she was in no mood to be very helpful to anyone…or very sociable.

"So, how'd it go?" Sirius asked.

"Fine, I guess," Lucy said. She knew she was being a crab-butt to him when he didn't even do anything, but there wasn't a whole lot she could about it. "I don't know what Dinah was expecting from it."

"Lucy, what's wrong?" he asked, putting aside the paper.

"I feel like crap, I'm tired," her voice cracked as she started to cry _again_, still not looking at her husband, "I just want to sleep, okay?"

"Lucy," he sighed, scooting down in the bed to spoon behind her.

She shoved back on him a bit to get him to move away. "I'm not in the mood. I don't even want to be touched right now." He didn't say anything, but she felt him move away, making her feel incredibly guilty. "I'm sorry," she apologized, crying in earnest now. "I'm not _trying_ to be mean! I don't feel well and I'm tired and I don't know why and I can't make it stop. I'm all pregnant and that's not an excuse but…it…I…and….but…" she knew she wasn't making much sense, but then neither were the thoughts running through her brain. They seemed to be gone before she could figure them out well enough to speak them.

"Okay," he said slowly, "Normally I would hug you but you don't want that…"

She shook her head, finally turning over, "No. I'm sorry. I'm being horrible to you and you don't deserve it. You didn't do anything and it shouldn't be all about me, but…"

"Lucy, it's okay. You're pregnant. It should be mostly about you. Just close your eyes and try to sleep. You'll feel better in the morning, I'm sure, and if you decide you want me I'm right here. Just come on over."

She lay there for awhile, eyes closed but not sleeping. Lucy would swear she could feel Sirius watching her. Her tears didn't slow right away and settled down to just some sniffling when she opened her eyes. Sirius was there, not watching her, but laying on his back, his own eyes closed. "Sirius?"

He stretched out his arm, positioning it over her head so that he didn't touch her. "Come here," he offered.

Lucy scooched over as quick as she could manage, wrapping her arms around her husband and burying her face in his chest. "What if they sack me?"

"They aren't going to sack you, and even if they do we'll be okay."

"But I _want_ to teach! I like my job. I like my kids."

"I know, but Lucy, short of threatening the Board of Governors with their lives there isn't much I can do about it."

"I know," she said, starting to cry again, "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm being like this."

"It's okay," he said, rubbing her back, "You want me to go see if Poppy or Severus has something you can take to help you sleep?"

"No, that's okay. Maybe tomorrow if I can't sleep then either."


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! I really appreciate them!

* * *

><p>Chapter 18<p>

Sirius sighed as he knocked on Severus's door the next evening. Lucy hadn't slept much the night before and she was starting to look pretty run down. He'd dragged her up to Poppy during a break and the healer had said that except for being tired she seemed to be fine.

The door opened to reveal Dinah. "Sirius!" she smiled, opening the door further; "Come on in. You know, it's so fun to be able to open the door now that everyone knows Sev and I are married. Where's Lucy?" her eyes searched around behind him for the woman in concern.

"Hi," he half-smiled, "I made Lucy promise to stay in bed or at least on the couch. She hasn't been sleeping and I think it's starting to take its toll. I came down to see if Severus has something she can take to help her sleep."

Dinah sighed. "Of course. He was just... um, showering," she blushed. "Usually I join - well, you don't want to hear that. But he made me eat since I haven't all day. Appetite issues, you know," she gestured to the table where a half-eaten bowl of ice cream sat next to some letters. "Some parents have complained about the game nights being pointless," she said in explanation. "Now I'm just waiting for Rita's take on the whole deal."

"Sorry you're getting letters. Lucy said the game night went fine." He didn't mention Lucy's other comment since he knew her emotions were more volatile lately. "Lucy's gotten a couple letters today from some of the more conservative parents about her 'loose morals'. She thinks she's going to get sacked from Hogwarts."

"No!" Dinah said, adamant. "She _will not_. Nobody sacked me after the whole parselmouth ordeal. Lucy will stay. I'll make sure of it!"

Sirius smiled, glad Dinah felt the same way he did and was willing to do whatever she could so Lucy could keep her job. Not that he really believed Minerva would sack his wife over this, but she could only protect Lucy for so long. "You might want to tell her that. I've tried, but her emotions are all over the place right now."

Dinah shook her head, "I don't know that I can help if you can't. She's just..." she sighed, "She's having such a hard time with everything right now, isn't she? And her symptoms are so much worse than mine. I kind of feel guilty."

He nodded, walking inside to sit in a chair and wait for Severus, "Yeah. That Skeeter article really set her off. She was fine until then really. If she wouldn't let it get to her so much it probably wouldn't be so bad."

"Mm," Dinah frowned agreement, her eyes drifting toward the bathroom. "Well, please make yourself comfortable. I'll go let Severus know you're here so he doesn't walk out in his bathrobe. I don't know that you two are ready for that yet," she grinned, heading first to the bedroom and then carrying some fresh clothing into the bathroom for her husband.

* * *

><p>"I'm in here, Mr. 'I don't want you exerting yourself too much on an empty stomach'," Dinah announced, resting her back against the bathroom door with her arms folded.<p>

"Did you eat?" was all he responded with. Honestly, he had been kind of angry with her for not eating all day. Not that she blamed him, exactly, but she was still annoyed.

"I had half a bowl of ice cream before Sirius showed up."

"Health food," he muttered, his usual dripping sarcasm intact as the water stopped. Then there was a pause and he opened the curtains; "Sirius? He's in here?"

"Yes. He wants a potion for Lucy so that she can sleep better and I was nice enough to come in here and warn you," she held out the robes she had selected for him, "You can thank me now."

"Thank you," he grumbled, snatching the clothes. He had just finished drying his hair when his eyes went wide. "Wait. Sirius is here?"

"I just said that."

He scowled, "But it's the evening. I am not... presentable! Why do you think I shower in the evenings? I can't go out there like-" he broke off with an angry growl.

"Ah," Dinah grinned, reaching across to touch her husband's hair, "This will be the first time Sirius has seen you not greasy, won't it? Ever."

More growling; "You don't happen to know of a spell that will make it greasy again, do you?"

She laughed, running her fingers through the dry, not-greasy fluffiness, "If you don't know of one off the top of your head, I certainly don't. I'm sure it'll be fine. He'll have to see it eventually."

"Says who?" he demanded, fastening the last few buttons on his frock coat and replacing the bat-like outer robes. "Well, fine," he spun to glare at the door, his robes billowing. "Let's just go out there and get this over with." He pushed open the door and stormed out into the hallway. Dinah followed him with amusement, very curious to see Sirius's reaction.

* * *

><p>Severus emerged from the bathroom looking rather…fluffy. Sirius looked again to make sure he'd seen that right. The greasy git from his past was gone…or the greasy part was anyway. "So, use some sort of volumizing shampoo in there, did you?" Sirius teased.<p>

"No!" Dinah shouted, grabbing Severus's hand as he went for his wand. "Stop that!" she scolded when her husband glared at her.

He sighed, tucking his wand away before turning his glare to Sirius; "What do you think normally happens when people wash their hair, you infernal dog?"

"Come on, let's not regress, darling, he was just teasing," Dinah was giggling as she dragged Severus over to sit on the green couch next to her.

"Usually after I get washed I get a flea dip. It's pretty awful I must say," Sirius said, referring more to Snuffles than himself. "Lucy does like to brush it so that it's…puffier than it would be if she'd just left it alone though."

Severus just frowned at him in consideration, his arms folded over his chest, "Hm. Women seem to enjoy that, do they? In case you wondered if I ever washed it at all let me assure you that I do so in the evenings and always have. It takes little more than three hours to return to its 'natural' state. So now you know," he did not look happy to share this information, but Sirius guessed that he felt he had to.

He felt the corners of his mouth twitch in amusement. "Well, um, okay then. I came to see if you had a potion Lucy could take to help her sleep," he said, not remarking on Severus's words

"How sleepy would you like her to be?" Severus responded with a question.

Dinah chuckled, "I don't think he's looking for the Draught of Living Death, Severus."

"No, no, not quite that strong," Sirius said, hoping Severus was teasing. "Just something to put her to sleep and keep her there for the night. If she doesn't sleep tonight I'm afraid she'll end up hexing a student."

"You tried to do that once," Dinah nudged her husband teasingly.

He scowled and stood up, wandering over to a cupboard and pulling out a vial of purple liquid. Returning to the chair Sirius was seated in, he held it out to him. "That should get her to sleep for approximately eight hours if she takes two tablespoons. After taking it, expect about a half hour of drowsiness before sleep hits."

Sirius nodded, "Thanks. She's been…I hope her mood swings don't get worse. I don't think I can take another four months of this."

Severus's anger seemed to have subsided as he settled back down next to his wife, who was biting her lip and nodding.

"Maybe another kind of potion would help?" Dinah threw out. "But if you tried to give her one for mood swings... might not go over well... I know if Severus tried to give me one I wouldn't be happy..."

Severus sighed, "Thank you for the warning. And yet you suggest giving one to Lucy?" he looked to Sirius, "You have more experience with women than I do. Do they ever make sense?"

He shook his head, "Not lately they don't. They don't normally either. But the last couple days have been without any shred of sense. She yells, says she doesn't want to be touched, then cries because she feels bad about yelling, then tells me she doesn't know _what_ she means or how she feels. It's been interesting to say the least. Oh, and she can't sleep because she can't stop thinking about getting sacked."

Dinah was looking a little annoyed at the turn the conversation had taken and left to go eat the rest of her ice cream, using a spell to return it to its frozen state, as it had melted quite a bit.

Severus sighed and shook his head, "Thus far I have escaped anything that extreme. Is there any other potion you would like to have, since you are here already anyway?"

"No, I don't think trying to give her anything to stabilize her moods will help. I mean I'm sure they'll work but you know. I should be going. I don't want to give Lucy too much time to think. She'll convince herself everyone thinks she's a bad role model for children or something."

"Keep her from doing that, will you?" Severus looked rather agitated.

"I'm doing my best," Sirius said, nodding his thanks as he left with the potion for his wife.

* * *

><p>Lucy laid in bed, in her nightrobes, a hand on her stomach, staring at the ceiling. Her mind wouldn't stop working and she'd gotten no sleep in almost two days because of it. Physically she felt okay. If she could just stop thinking about all the bad things that might happen she was sure she'd be able to sleep and she'd stop snapping at Sirius.<p>

She hated it when she did that. He didn't deserve it really. It was just…she was keeping calm with the students and he was there when she came home. Truthfully if they hadn't been married yet, she'd probably be doing the same thing to Dora or Dinah. None of them deserved it but she couldn't control it anymore by the end of the day.

They were going to sack her. She knew it. There was nothing else for it but to sit and wait. It would come eventually. The three letters she'd received today proved it. Parents did not want her teaching their children. Her fears were coming true.

"Lucy? You still awake?"

"Yes," she snapped. "Of course I'm awake. I'm always awake."

"Not for much longer," Sirius said, ignoring her tone and coming into the bedroom. Dora had been wisely hiding under the bed. "I went to go see our good friend Severus, like you asked me to, and he gave me this pretty potion that will help you sleep."

She took a breath and tried to calm herself, or at least curb the snapping. He'd offered to get her some before and she declined, this time she accepted because if she didn't do _something_ she was worried she'd have another breakdown or hex someone, anyone. "Thank you," she said, in a much more neutral voice. Lucy was already stressed, she didn't need to add guilt about the way she was treating Sirius to the list.

"Here," he said, measuring out the potion and handing it to her. "Severus said it should take about a half hour."

Lucy took the potion and waited for Sirius to change and come to bed. Unlike the previous night, she didn't yell at him not to touch her. She wanted him there, with his arms around her. She knew she was being horrible but couldn't seem to stop herself. Maybe it was her hormones, maybe it was stress. For all she knew she was blowing everything way out of proportion. Either way it was good that he was there for her, and she knew he always would be.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I just can't stop worrying and I'm taking it out on you and you don't deserve that." She yawned, actually starting to feel sleepy.

"It's okay," he said, stroking her back. He seemed to hesitate before saying, "I told Dinah about the letters. She said she won't let them sack you. We'll all do our best to make sure that doesn't happen. Severus would agree I'm sure, but he was showering when I got there. He was…fluffy."

"Hmm," Lucy said, no longer having the energy to giggle as her eyes closed, the potion doing it's job. The last thing she felt was Sirius kissing the top of her head. Sometimes, she thought, she really didn't deserve him.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Here's a chapter for all you Severus and Dinah lovers :) It was written by animalwriter as are all things Dinah and Severus. As always I hope you enjoy it and am eagerly looking forward to your reviews (which are passed on to animalwriter as well so she knows what you think of her work too)

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><p>Chapter 19<p>

Dinah was in a pretty good mood as she and Severus settled down at the table for lunch on Monday. There had been a small article in the _Daily Prophet _about the game nights, but it didn't garner as much attention as she had been worried it would. And it seemed just about as many students told her they had fun that told her they thought it was stupid and pointless. Sure, most of the ones who 'had fun' had been sitting with people they knew, but at least it was a start. If there were no extreme hostilities she didn't have to worry about the Board of Governors making her cancel it. She would have plenty of opportunity to keep tweaking it until she got it right and the students responded properly.

The only thing she did have to worry about was the fact that she wasn't feeling hungry at all as she stared at the sausages, mashed potatoes, and salad laid out in front of her. She stabbed a sausage and pushed it around on her plate, frowning at it as she debated taking a bite or not. Ultimately, she decided against it.

Looking up, she saw Severus sigh and look at the clock on the wall, making note of the time. Their custom was to wait five minutes. If she was going to switch to being hungry again or do one of the things where her appetite went back and forth every few seconds she would start doing it within five minutes. If not, it was stimulant time.

"Things are looking better, huh?" she asked, making conversation as she waited to see if her appetite would come back or not.

"Mm," he agreed, taking a bite of salad. "The students still won't shut up about the babies but at least your game night has gone over reasonably well and Lucy has not yet been sacked."

"And the students still have positive points," she teased, causing him to good-naturedly roll his eyes. Yes, he was still frustrated with the students' constant baby comments, which made it almost a miracle he hadn't taken away more points than he already had. Of course, they had both figured out quite quickly that it didn't do much good anyway.

They continued to converse until the five minutes had passed and she still had not taken a bite. She grudgingly accepted the appetite stimulant and swallowed it down with a grimace. But she had to admit it was a good thing. The baby needed food, and its nourishment was more important than her appetite. Even if the appetite stimulant _did _taste awful.

Predictably, the sausages began to look tasty. She cut them up and took a few bites, then had some potatoes and a bit of salad. Yes, the stimulant did do its job. She took a swig of water and smiled at her husband, "You want to do dinner here or in the Great Hall?"

He considered, "I'm flexible. I do have some papers the seventh years are turning in today so perhaps it will be better to eat here. Unless you want to check on Lucy."

"Hmm, she seemed okay on Friday and at meals yesterday," Dinah said of her moody friend, spooning more potatoes onto her plate. They were quite good. Especially with lots of butter…

"True," Severus agreed. "Then we might just as well stay here. I'm tired of gawking students anyway. Did you see them at breakfast?" he scowled.

She giggled, taking three more sausages. They were tasty too. _Very _tasty. She was starting to feel a little hungrier as she ate what was in front of her, apparently. Which was a bit unusual. She'd had breakfast. "They weren't staring any more than normal, dear."

"That is the _point_!" he exclaimed, putting his fork down and glaring up at the ceiling. "The excitement is supposed to _slow _or _die down_, not stay the same."

She laughed, but her focus was shifting to the food as she finished her potatoes in record time and then devoured the three sausages. But her stomach was starting to feel like an empty pit and her taste buds craved more. She took four more sausages as Severus started to stare. "I'm sure it'll slow down soon. Could you pass the salad?"

"Finish what's on your plate first…" he frowned, now watching her quite closely.

"Please! I'm starving. I need more salad. I need to be able to alternate foods to satisfy these cravings."

"What cravings?" his voice was turning low, almost dangerous if she could focus on anything besides the food.

"The ones I'm having all of a sudden! Pass the salad!" she ordered, pointing at it, and then smacked herself on the head when he refused. She removed her wand from her pocket and levitated the greens over to herself. She had just never gotten those magical instincts. Probably a result of her not having been admitted to Hogwarts until she was sixteen. Either way, now she had salad. Her world was complete.

Until the salad was gone again, along with the rest of the foods on her plate, and she had to have more.

"Dinah, _stop_!" Severus suddenly exclaimed. He had been watching her carefully for a while, but now he sounded frustrated as he held out of her reach the nearly-empty plate of sausages she had just been going for. "What is _wrong _with you?"

"I don't know! I'm hungry! Give-" she made a grab but he kept the plate away, "Give me the sausages!"

"No!" he snarled. "Dinah, you are behaving as you did this summer when you attempted to take the stimulant when you were already hungry anyway as an 'experiment'."

She just shrugged, giving up on the sausages for the time being and spooning herself a half a plate full of mashed potatoes, digging in.

"What are you doing? Stop! You're going to make yourself sick!"

"I don't care," she almost whined, realizing somewhere that she _was _behaving – and feeling – just like at that time. "My stomach is like a bottomless pit. I _need _more food!" He was still holding the sausages away from her but she had an idea. She recited the spell requesting more food from the kitchens and another full plate of delicious, juicy, salty sausages appeared in the middle of the table. She went for one and took a huge bite right from the fork as Severus stared at her. The last bite was tiny but she brought her fork to her mouth to finish it off.

"Stop it, no!" her husband grabbed her arm, effectively preventing her from bringing the meat to her lips. "Do not eat that."

"But I need it," she struggled in vain but his grip on her arm was too strong.

"You were hungry," he snarled, his voice low and quite menacing.

"What?"

"You were hungry, weren't you? You're exhibiting those same behaviors you did before. The only logical conclusion is that you are suffering from the combined effects of both the appetite stimulant and your normal appetite."

She shrugged again, still struggling to get her arm free. "I guess I must have gotten naturally hungry again after you gave it to me, after the five minutes." It was the only logical conclusion she could think of. It wasn't as if she _wanted _to be starving like this. She hated the feeling of constant hunger, but it just would not leave her.

"That does not happen!" he shook his head vehemently, his tone laced with accusation as he demanded, "Why did you pretend that you weren't hungry when you were?"

"But I wasn't!"

"Do not _lie _to me, Dinah!" he growled, wrenching the fork from her and holding it out of her arms' reach.

Dinah felt a heavy weight slam into her chest at his words. It even overpowered the hunger. "What? I-" tears were now forming, "I didn't _lie _to you! How could you say that I lied to you?"

"It is the only thing that makes sense," his tone was now positively _full _of biting accusation.

"It does not! I didn't lie to you! I'd never lie to you!" At his raised eyebrow she burst into tears. "I didn't lie to you! I didn't, I swear!" How could he? He still didn't trust her. He still remembered the secrets she had kept from him last year and this summer about the baby, and he believed her one-hundred percent capable of still doing those same things, even though she had promised both him and herself that she never would again.

"Whatever you say, Dinah," he tossed off, his tone flippant as he folded his napkin and stood from the table. "If you're done stuffing your face you might try an anti-nausea potion. Apparently you enjoy making yourself sick. Congratulations. With everything you put away tonight I'm sure that will happen."

"You… you… _how dare you_!" she shouted, slamming her hands onto the table and standing up to glare daggers at him. "I'll tell you what makes no sense! Why would I _want _to make this happen? Why would I want to be this hungry and feel this awful and possibly hurt the baby?"

"I don't know. Were you 'experimenting' again?" he sneered. "Like during the summer? Just had to see if it would happen a second time? I really couldn't say. You may not have _intended _to feel sick or hurt the baby but sometimes you don't think about anything at all. Especially lately."

"Shut up!" she screamed, wiping furiously at her eyes, trying to fight with the anger, hurt, and sadness that were all roiling around inside of her at once. Anger was starting to win, though, as she faced down her sneering husband. The git was glaring at her the way he would glare at a Gryffindor student. She wouldn't be surprised if he called her an 'infernal dunderhead' soon and tried to take twenty points from Hufflepuff in her name. "You can't treat me like this! I didn't _do _anything!"

"You didn't _do _anything?" he demanded, shouting right back at her. "Do you have _any _idea, Dinah, what it is like for me to watch you like that? Stuffing your face as though you have absolutely no control over your actions and are starving to death? Thinking about how it might hurt you and the baby if you get sick? You don't think about anyone but yourself! If it looks 'fun' you'll do it, no matter how much it might worry your husband or hurt you in the long run? I am sick and tired of this carelessness! It's just as bad when you refuse to eat and force me to keep brewing that infernal stimulant for you!"

"I never forced you to brew that stimulant! And I do _not _have these appetite issues on purpose, Severus! It's the hormones!"

"Hormones, hormones, you'll blame anything on them, won't you? You and Lucy, the both of you. Well, I've had it," he slammed his chair back into the table with a resounding bang, his dark eyes glaring and that horrible sneer on his face. Dinah had absolutely no idea how she'd ever allowed that horrid expression to turn her on. That seemed like a million years ago. Now all it did was infuriate her.

"_You've _had it? You have _no idea_ what this is like, so don't even pretend that it's affecting you even half as much as it's affecting me!" she screamed, slamming her own chair into the table. "This is all your fault, anyway!"

"_I _forced you to eat all that?" he growled.

"You made me pregnant!" she shouted back, throwing all the blame on him. She didn't care if it was unreasonable. He deserved it after the things he said. He deserved _all _of the blame.

"Oh," the sneer would not disappear. "_Did _I then? And the fact that you wanted children and thus convinced me to stop using the protection spell? The fact that you were involved in and essentially the initiator of that decision when I could have taken or left this whole… thing," he gave her a flippant wave, "What of those facts?"

"Ha!" she snorted. "Taken or left it, huh? As I recall, _you _were the one who suggested we stop using the protection spell after we got married!"

"Only because that's what _you _wanted! But it doesn't matter because we've proven tonight that _I _am the only one who even cares about the health of this baby."

"How dare you!" she screamed again, "I _love _this baby! I didn't want to eat like this tonight! I don't think this is a game and I wasn't 'experimenting' on anything! It happened by itself!"

He snorted, "Is that so? Well, either way don't expect me to brew any more stimulants for you."

"Yeah? Well don't expect me to _take _any more of your ridiculous, awful-tasting stimulants! Honestly, you'd think a supposedly 'perfect' Potions Master such as yourself, 'The Great Severus Snape', would be intelligent enough to find a way to fix the taste, but apparently not," she smirked. "I wonder if that's your vindictive side coming through. You probably made it taste bad from the beginning to punish me for having appetite issues."

"How dare you," he growled, the evening's most popular three words now on his lips instead of hers, his voice once again low and dangerous.

"Easily," she scowled right back at him. Severus Snape might intimidate the whole world and win most arguments, but not against her. She would not be intimidated nor would she back down.

"Get back to your food, will you?" he pointed to what remained on the table.

"Get out of my house!" she threw her rolled-up napkin at him.

"These are _my _rooms, you know," he said after swiftly deflecting the napkin, "They were assigned to _me _nineteen years ago. If anyone needs to get out, it's you."

"GET OUT!" she screamed. She didn't want to see his face or hear his voice any more. She wanted him to _go away_.

"GLADLY!" he shouted back, making her wish come true as he spun around, his robes billowing and his bat-like image marching off before he slammed the door to his office and then the door to the hallway, leaving her alone in the dungeons.

She took this moment to shriek in frustration and throw a fork at the closed door. How dare he have an office right attached to their rooms? She couldn't get anywhere when he had office hours and detentions and the like right there, right in her gateway to the rest of the world. He could have requested a different office, but _no. _He just wanted everything for himself. She was married to a selfish bastard and an awful git. And she had absolutely no rights at all. How could anyone possibly live like this?

As far as she was concerned, he could stay away from these dungeons forever.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Dinah barely got through her classes without hexing the students that afternoon. She did, at least, snap at them quite a bit and take more points than normal. Finally, they were over and she went back to the dungeons for dinner. Thankfully, Severus had apparently chosen to take his meal in the Great Hall instead, and so he was out of her hair for a little while longer. Probably double checked that she wasn't there and thus decided to stay as far away from her as she wanted to stay away from him. Which was just fine with her.

Unfortunately, she seemed to have no appetite at all. But she was not going to take the stimulant! She would refuse to take it ever again. Besides, after lunch she probably didn't need to eat any more today anyway. She had felt a little sick in the middle of the afternoon, but had kept herself from throwing up, and thus the food was still in her. So after eating half an apple she just gave up, instead grabbing a book and plopping onto the green couch with a frustrated sigh, reading until the door opened up and Severus walked in.

She decidedly stuck her nose into the book. She wasn't going to talk to him or even look at him. That would teach him to accuse her of lying and make all those other horrible comments.

He didn't seem to care much, though, as he marched past her and into the bathroom to take his nightly shower. She hadn't looked. She only knew that's what he had done by his footsteps, the shadow of his ridiculous black garb in her peripheral vision and the slight growl he had emitted while passing her, and then the sound of the shower water running in the bathroom.

Late evening was approaching. At this time they would normally either do some grading or potions organization or retreat to the bedroom for sex, talking, and sleep, depending upon what their schedule was like and what needed to be done. But she wouldn't even give him the satisfaction of asking what her nightly plans were. She would show him just how she felt about him right now. He hadn't asked her if she wanted to shower with him but she wasn't even going to let him demand that she not sleep with him. She would be the one to make that decision _first_!

So she waited, carefully, to hear him coming out of the bathroom. And then, very decidedly, when she knew he could both see and hear her, she dropped her book onto her chest, closed her eyes, and pretended to snore. He would know she wasn't really asleep. He would know she was snubbing him. And she would stay on this couch all night.

Dinah felt a strong sense of satisfaction as she felt Severus storm up to her and stop. He was regarding her now. She could positively feel his dark eyes boring into the back of her head as she continued to pretend her deep sleep, no longer snoring but just keeping as quiet as possible. And then he growled and stormed off again and she heard the bedroom door slam shut.

There.

Just perfect.

She opened her eyes to see that she was alone again. Just the way she liked it. Even Godric was nowhere to be seen. She snorted. He had been on the bed earlier and was probably still there. Fine, Severus could steal her cat. Why not? He was vindictive like that. Well, she wasn't going into that bedroom to get him, so he could have him. She had peace and quiet this way.

She curled up and tried to fall asleep on the couch. She was still wearing her day robes but she would also not give him the satisfaction of her knocking on the bedroom door demanding to be let in to find some pajamas. She would just stay on the couch as she was, even though it was still early yet. But it was comfortable enough and she had no problem sleeping here as long as was necessary.

That would teach him!

* * *

><p>AN: I have a M rated scene written for Lucy and Sirius that would normally reside right here, but since this is mostly a T rated story I've taken out the mature (sexually explicit) scenes and put them in a collection in the proper section. For those who are interested and of age this particular scene can be found in the story entitled, "Lucy and Sirius: The Deleted Scenes" under Chapter 10: Muggle Protection along with all scenes that would have occurred previously in both Don't Leave Me and Carry On. If you do choose to read those scenes I'd appreciate a review letting me know how I did. Thanks! :)

* * *

><p>Lucy grinned as Sirius reached over to stroke her back, just above her bum, at breakfast the next morning. She was still stressed but last night had gone a long way to making her feel a bit more relaxed. "So," she said, continuing her conversation with Eugene, "you think you'll be able to reconstruct the potion using scenes from the play?"<p>

Eugene opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind him. Lucy looked up to see Dinah standing there with an oddly stalwart look on her face, her arms clasped stiffly in front of her. "Good morning, Eugene. You need to switch seats with me."

Eugene blinked and then frowned, "Dinah, I can't switch seats with you. Is this some sort of joke? It would be suicide for me to sit next to Severus!"

"Well, _I_ have to sit here. Do whatever you need to. Go switch with Slughorn and have him sit in my seat. I don't really care. Just give me this seat."

"Uh..." Eugene still looked a little off-put but there was no arguing with Dinah's current tone and expression. In the end, he stood up and went to try and switch with Slughorn.

Dinah decidedly plopped into the seat he had vacated before starting to grab a bunch of pieces of toast from the communal basket and pile them onto her plate; "Good morning, Lucy. How are things?" she said all too casually, but without making eye contact as she continued to collect toast pieces.

"Good," Lucy said, glancing at Sirius. Dinah was acting very weird, but it could just be the hormones she supposed.

"I'd like to thank you for that hen party gift," Sirius grinned.

Dinah regarded him with a slightly agitated expression before giving a curt nod, "So glad you enjoyed it." She turned back to her toast.

Lucy frowned, her brows drawing together, "Everything okay, Dinah?"

"Of course!" Dinah replied, offering Lucy an quite unnatural-looking smile. "Doesn't everything _seem_ okay?" she gestured to her plate which was now piled with only toast. "I'm eating, aren't I?"

"Yes, well," Lucy looked over at Sirius. Clearly everything wasn't okay. Her friend was acting decidedly strange. "It seems your husband is not thrilled with his new neighbor."

"Who?" Dinah blinked, "Oh, _him_?" she now pointed across the way with a disdainful expression at Severus, who had come in and was sitting down and glaring at Slughorn who was, as usual, rattling off about something. Dinah turned away from Severus and back to Lucy. "I'm never speaking to that man again!" she huffed, taking an aggressive bite of toast.

"Oh," Lucy said. She didn't want to get in the middle of anything, she wasn't one for conflict after all, but she didn't like the idea of her friends fighting, especially while Dinah was pregnant. It couldn't be good for the baby. "But you live together. You're going to have to speak to him eventually. Even _I_ had to communicate with my father on occasion when I lived with him."

"We'll see about that," Dinah said, her tone flippant, and then her expression changed, "Are you busy tonight? We should have a girls night! We could watch a film or something! You want to? Then again, I suppose you might want to use your gift again and I'd be in the way..." she glared a little at Sirius before turning to spread jam on one of her many bread pieces.

"Um, no, that's okay," Sirius said, "You can have your girls night. I can just go…visit Remus, or Harry…"

"Good, you'll have fun with them," Dinah decided, nodding. "Oh, but only if that's okay with Lucy. That's okay, isn't it?" she asked Lucy, looking a bit pathetic.

Lucy nodded, still not sure what was going on with Dinah, "Sure, yeah, okay. I can put off grading and responding to those obnoxious letters from parents for one night."

"You shouldn't be responding to them at all," Sirius muttered.

"But if I don't explain things they'll start sending letters to Minerva and she'll have to sack me or something!" Lucy whined, "But I'm going to ignore that for tonight, okay?"

Sirius looked over at Dinah, even though she was apparently terrifying him at the moment, "Don't let her touch those letters. They're one of the reasons she needed that sleeping potion."

"Oh, we'll be having much too much fun for that," Dinah waved him off. "Hey, we should have lunch in your rooms today, Lucy. Or go to Hogsmeade. You can be there too," she allowed Sirius.

Lucy giggled, "We could. Madam Rosmerta hasn't seen you since you got pregnant has she? And it's been awhile since she's seen me."

Sirius on the other hand just frowned, "I think I'll stay here. Maybe rescue Severus from Slughorn, but thanks for the invitation."

Dinah scowled, "You'll do no such thing. Let Slughorn talk to whoever he wants. He's a harmless old man, he should be allowed."

"Not when he starts sticking his hands all over my wife's stomach without permission he's not," Sirius growled.

"He wasn't 'all over' me," Lucy protested, "Not any more than Pomona or Filius anyway."

Dinah just rolled her eyes, "Men. Well, I suppose I can't stop you from doing what you want. Just keep me well out of it. I'd better get to class," she turned to look in front of her, spreading her hands in confusion, "Who put all this toast on my plate? I'll meet you in your office before lunch, Lucy," she stood and marched out of the Great Hall without so much as another look in Severus's direction.

"What was that?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," Lucy shrugged, taking a bite of her breakfast. "I'm guessing her and Severus had some sort of fight. And what is with you and Slughorn? He's annoying at times yes, but like Dinah said, he's harmless."

"I still didn't like him putting his hands on you."

"It was just the one time! Besides," she said, lowering her voice and kissing his temple, "you get to feel me all the time. I think," she said, leaning back, "that it's a good idea for you to go see Severus at lunch though. Maybe you can find out what happened."

"And then maybe we can fix it, because I _would _like to use that gift again."

Lucy giggled, "Well, we'll see."

* * *

><p>Lucy let her third years out early and hurried back to her office before lunch. She'd only had her third years so far today but they'd told her enough tales about the 'angry Professor Snape' that she'd had pity on them and let them go. Even the students knew there was something seriously wrong with Dinah.<p>

The few minutes she was able to spend alone in her office allowed her to smile at the picture of her, Dinah, and Rosa at Dinah's wedding as well as the one of the Snapes and the Blacks, though Lucy and Sirius hadn't been married at the time. Not too far from those pictures was a collage of pictures from _her_ wedding. One of her and Sirius kissing right after the ceremony and another of Severus dancing with her stood out. Then finally, on her desk, was a copy of the ultrasound picture. Looking at the pictures allowed her to relax and forget about all the stress outside of this room. It was funny, she thought, her wedding pictures showed that she hadn't been nearly as pregnant as she'd thought she'd looked at the time.

"Hi Lucy. Ready for lunch?" a pleasant-enough voice asked, and Lucy turned to see Dinah leaning against the doorframe.

"Sure," Lucy smiled, taking one last look at the pictures, "It's getting hard to remember a time when I _didn't_ look pregnant."

Dinah smiled a little and rested a hand over her own now obviously expanding abdomen. "If it makes you feel any better I think I'm finally showing the fact that I'm a month ahead of you."

"That makes me feel _so_ much better! Though I guess being all belly isn't a bad thing. I don't look too pregnant in my face or anything."

"I don't think you necessarily will, either," Dinah said, "Stop worrying. It's all natural anyway. Are we going to Hogsmeade?"

"Sure. If you're prepared to be fussed over and have your belly touched," Lucy warned.

"Madam Rosmerta, huh?" Dinah raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "I guess that's fine. Let's go before we run out of time!"

Lucy was kind of surprised at the relatively normal lunch they had at the Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosmerta did, of course, fuss over them and feel their bellies. She even marveled over how _Sirius Black_ was having a baby and how she remembered him coming into her establishment during his school days.

She did mention to Dinah that she couldn't believe Professor Snape was also going to be a father and expressed that he must be very excited about the baby, but after Dinah responded with a fairly cold, "I'm afraid you'll have to ask him about that. I couldn't possibly tell you what that man thinks," she backed off.

As long as there was no mention of Severus, Dinah seemed to be in a normal mood now. She hoped they'd be able to work things out. Dinah just _couldn't_ leave Severus. It wouldn't be fair. Dinah was her friend and she'd stick by her but she knew what it was like to be left and she couldn't let that happen to Severus.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"So, you're really okay with leaving?" Lucy asked, kissing Sirius again.

"Yes," he grinned, "I'll go see Harry and check up on Grimmauld Place at the same time. It's fine."

"Oh! You should take this! Show him a picture of the baby!" Lucy said, grabbing one of the many copies she'd made. In retrospect she'd gone overboard with that, but she'd been so excited at the time.

Sirius chuckled, "I've got one in my bag. And the wedding pictures," he added before she could say anything. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Lucy nodded, getting weepy.

"What's wrong?"

"It'll be the first time since we've been married that…" she paused when Dinah knocked on the door.

Sirius hugged Lucy tight, before opening the door, "Hi, Dinah, I was just about to leave."

"Have fun," Dinah smiled, apparently a bit friendlier towards him than this morning, and stepped inside, holding up a pile of PTPs, "I brought a lot of choices! The television and player are in my bag."

Sirius grinned and said, "Have fun," before heading out the door.

"Wait!" Lucy called, before he could actually get beyond the doorway. She pulled his head down and kissed him like he was going off to war or something. "You'll come back?" she asked, becoming suddenly fearful.

"You won't even know I'm gone," he assured her.

"Yes, I will," she murmured. "You have to come back."

"Always," he said, kissing the top of her head and departing, not giving her a chance to pull him back again.

"Sorry," Lucy said, coming back into the room and using a tissue to wipe at her eyes.

Dinah frowned; "Would you like me to leave then? I have a nice couch waiting for me back at the dungeons and about a billion boring books to occupy my time."

"Nonsense," Lucy said, trying not to feel offended at her friend's words. "You know how emotional I can be and the pregnancy only makes it worse. It's the first night we'll have been apart since we got married. Now," she attempted to change the subject, "what film did you want to watch? Or would you rather talk about what happened between you and Severus?"

"Nothing happened!" Dinah insisted. "I just don't ever want to speak to him again, that's all. Now let's watch the film. Here, pick one!" she held the five PTP boxes out for Lucy to see, "I think you'd like that one... Oh! But that one's really good too. Then again... yes, that one is great! Go ahead, pick!" she seemed rather insistent on getting the subject away from Severus.

"Um, okay. How about that one?" Lucy pointed to a random box. Dinah, the Hufflepuff, was managing to scare Lucy, the Ravenclaw, but she tried logic one more time. "Why don't you want to speak to your husband ever again? Isn't that going to make it hard to be married to him and have a child with him?"

Dinah just shrugged and didn't answer the question, using her wand to remove the telly and PTP player from her bag where they had been comfortably resting in wizard space. She went about inserting the film.

Well, fine. If Dinah didn't want to talk about the issue then they wouldn't talk about it. She had no problem telling Lucy to 'talk' to Sirius about whatever issue was bothering Lucy but talking to Severus was apparently out of the question. That was just fine. She'd be there for Dinah but she was _not_ going to let the other woman use her Snuffles blanket.

"Did you want some popcorn?" she asked, before settling down on the couch.

"Oh! Yes! That sounds just _perfect_, I'm starving! With lots of butter?" Dinah asked eagerly, plopping down beside Lucy.

Lucy wanted to scowl, but her moods seemed to be going up and down in accordance with Dinah's. She seriously considered sabotaging the popcorn somehow, but she wanted it too so that would be pointless. Instead she waved her wand and some popcorn, with lots of butter, appeared in a big bowl before them. Hermione might not agree but sometimes house elves were wonderful.

Dinah seemed like she wanted to watch all the films she'd brought over before leaving, but she had to concede defeat and go back to the dungeons when Dora sat right in front of the telly and wouldn't move.

* * *

><p>"Lucy? Lucy, wake up. Why are you still in bed? Shouldn't you be in class?"<p>

Lucy forced her eyes open, feeling a little drugged, and looked at a very worried Sirius. She sat up and looked around the room. "What time is it?"

"Never mind. Are you okay? Do I need to take you to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Mmm, no," she said, shoving her hair out of her face, "I think I took too much sleeping potion is all. I couldn't sleep and I wanted to fall asleep faster so I took a little extra."

Sirius sighed and wrapped his arms around her, "Okay. Don't do that again. You've nearly missed all of your fifth year class."

"Mm, don't leave me again," she countered, resting her head on his shoulder when it became just too heavy to hold up.

Sirius chuckled, "Okay. I suppose I can let you sleep a little longer since you've missed most of your class anyway."

"Mmm," was all Lucy could muster before falling back to sleep for another half hour.

* * *

><p>"You weren't here at breakfast!" Dinah opened their lunch conversation with that statement as she sat down next to Lucy. "Well, that's okay. I did keep you up a bit last night with the films. You want to watch some more tonight? Then again, I could bring over video games this time, or we could play cards or some kind of game. Why don't you join us, Sirius? I promise I'll leave early enough that you two have time alone. I just need something to do to occupy my time."<p>

Sirius chuckled, "I think you're overwhelming Lucy there. I'm afraid she took a little too much sleeping potion last night and is still feeling a little drugged. A game of cards sounds fun though. We could watch some film if you'd like, as long as they aren't girly ones."

Lucy, her head resting on her husband's shoulder again, said, "Sorry, Dinah. I meant to be at breakfast. I really did. But I was in that big bed all alone…I missed my fifth year class too if that makes you feel better."

Dinah sighed. "That's okay. Sorry if I'm being annoying or anything, I'm just trying to find something to do, you know? But a game tonight will be fun! Oh, but... do you think your missed class will be a problem?" she frowned.

"It's fine," Lucy assured her friend, rubbing at her eyes, "I already talked to Minerva about it. She wasn't thrilled, but understood and Ginny is coming this weekend so hopefully nothing like this happens again."

"Right, right," Dinah nodded. They had contacted Ginny and Hermione together to try and get the girl's up to learn the ropes for helping out with their classes, but Hermione was not available until Tuesday. Lucy wondered if Dinah and Severus would still be at this standstill by then...

"They're going to be staying in your old rooms," Lucy said, trying to make conversation.

"Oh. How nice. At least somebody gets to use them. And there's no connecting office, either," she seemed to shoot a brief glare across the table at Severus but quickly turned back to Lucy and changed the subject again, "I'll bring some Muggle snacks and candy tonight! It'll be fun."

"You should bring Godric," Lucy suggested, "Maybe he'll keep Dora occupied if we watch another movie."

"Sure!" Dinah enthused. "He'll like that. Or he'd better like it, anyway. After all, if the dungeons are _his_ then the cat is _mine_. Right? Oh, don't answer that!" She sighed and stood up from her seat. "I'll see you at dinner," she said before heading out and back to classes.

Lucy turned to Sirius, "She's crazier than I am."

* * *

><p>Dinah could not find her cat when she entered the dungeons after dinner. The bedroom door was closed, however, and she stood before it with a determined glare. She would get in, get the cat, and get out. Because she was fairly certain that her git of a husband was in there reading one of his stupid books.<p>

She marched forward and flung the door open, revealing their bedroom with Severus on the bed behind a gigantic tome and Godric laying by his feet. She snatched the cat with a loud growl of, "The cat's mine!" and stormed back out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind her just as Severus lowered the book and growled. But she didn't stay to hear if he had anything to say.

* * *

><p>Severus stared at the closed door with a snarl. His ridiculous, childish wife had just stormed in, claimed the cat for herself, and stormed out. Her behaviors as of late were just incredulous, really. He had absolutely no patience for her infantile behavior. Fine with him. She could <em>take <em>the cat for all he cared. As long as she stayed out of his bedroom he was fine with or without the ridiculous furry animal to keep him company. Granted, he didn't really _mind _having Godric there… but if Dinah wanted him so bad so be it. She wasn't going to inconvenience him so easily. He would not give her the satisfaction.

He smirked and went back to his book. At least her childish behaviors guaranteed him the bed at night. He was making out in this fight _just fine_ if he did say so himself. And because of that he found himself very satisfied indeed.

* * *

><p>"Think we should have told her to bring that Twister game you like? Or Monopoly?" Sirius asked that night as they waited for Dinah to arrive.<p>

"No," Lucy giggled, going back to kissing her husband's neck. She doubted they were going to get much alone time if this argument between Severus and Dinah kept going on much longer so she was taking advantage of it while she could.

"Do you think…?" Sirius drifted off, rearranging Lucy so she straddled his lap.

"No," she giggled again.

A knock on the door made Sirius lean his head back and groan. "She has great timing doesn't she?"

This time Lucy just grinned, "I told you there wasn't time. Maybe later." She climbed off his lap and went to answer the door, "Hi, Dinah! How're you doing?"

"Great! I brought cards! And a couple of non-girly action films!" Dinah waved the items in concern before them and positively bounded inside. "Oh, and my cat!" she dropped Godric on the floor where he promptly ran over to start sniffing at Dora.

"Wonderful," Sirius said, only a touch sarcastic, not getting up from his chair. It was kind of rude, but in this case Lucy understood. No need to embarrass himself and Dinah.

"Well, what did you want to do first? We're up for whatever," Lucy said.

"I'll leave early, I promise," Dinah bit her lip, glancing at Sirius. "Can we just play cards though? I want to play cards."

Lucy frowned and pushed a little on Sirius's head as she walked by, "You're fine. We can play cards _and_ watch a film if you want. He's just being whiney. You know how men can be. Plus I think he's embarrassed."

"Oh," Dinah flushed, understanding, "Well, um, here are the cards and the films," she shoved them into Lucy's arms. "Pick what game you want to play and what you want to watch and I'll just use your restroom if that's okay. Give Sirius's mood time to improve."

Lucy plopped the cards and PVD's in Sirius's lap. She kissed him and said, "Are you happy now? You've upset Dinah. Be nice to her and I'll be nice to you later."

"She's been glued to your side for the last two days," he complained.

"Hey," she said, firmly, "There were times last year I was stuck to her side and I'm sure Severus was equally annoyed by it. But they didn't complain; they didn't turn me away; they _helped_ me. I have to do the same for Dinah."

"You're right," Sirius said, brushing his hand across her cheek, "I shouldn't forget that. Shall we play this one?" He held up a bunch of cards colored like the Twister game.

"Sure," Lucy shrugged, "Muggles sure do like their colors don't they?" She dragged Sirius over to the coffee table and sat on the floor with him. Pulling out the instructions that came with the cards, she started to read them, determined not to make a fool of herself playing _this_ Muggle game.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Ahh!" Dinah smiled, laying down her last card about an hour later with a comfortable expression; "It is so nice to play card games when I can actually_ win_! You two are a complete breath of fresh air!"

Lucy frowned at the table. She was sure she was going to win. How did she lose? She'd even said 'oomla' or whatever it was you were supposed to say.

"Congratulations," Sirius said, being nice as she'd asked him to.

"But…but I don't understand. I said ooma…"

Dinah laughed; "_Uno,_ and you don't win by saying it, you win by discarding all of your cards. 'Uno' just means you have one left. Surely you know that 'uno' means 'one' in Spanish. I thought you'd caught the reference."

Lucy giggled, "Oh, right. How stupid of me. I even went to Spain for the Order once. I _know_ some Spanish. I guess I just didn't make the connection."

"Lucy," Sirius growled, causing her to turn and look at him, "I thought we went through this. Please don't call yourself stupid anymore."

"Don't yell at her!" that comment seemed to hit a nerve in Dinah somehow. "She was laughing when she said it. I think she was just using it as a common phrase that time. You know, how sometimes people say 'oh, how stupid of me'? I mean, it's the same as saying 'oh, how silly of me'. That's what you meant, right Lucy?"

"Yes," she said, a little unnerved by her friend's reaction. "I don't think he was yelling though. He was trying to help." She rubbed a hand over her stomach. Her robes were finally starting to get a little too tight to wear. Soon she'd have to go buy some maternity robes.

"I see," Dinah pursed her lips. "Well, that's all well and good but next time, Sirius, you shouldn't growl. And you shouldn't make assumptions without all the facts. Ask first, and listen to her response, and don't jump to any con- oh, never mind! I'm going to go put in the movie we picked," and with that, she was off into the living area to set up her Muggle objects.

"I guess we can assume that Severus made some sort of…assumption?" Sirius said, raising an eyebrow and helping Lucy to stand.

"I suppose," she shrugged, "but I've tried talking to her about it and she just brushes me off. Aside from force feeding her Veritaserum what can I do?"

* * *

><p>Lucy stifled a yawn at breakfast, but it wasn't from using too much sleeping potion this time. The film hadn't gotten over until late and Dinah hadn't seemed in a hurry to leave. But she'd finally gone back to her dungeon rooms with Godric and Lucy had spent an hour or two 'being nice' to her husband, now she was paying for it. It <em>was<em> worth it though.

But she could not relax when a snarling Dinah plopped into seat next to Lucy that she had been using and began repeating Monday's toast piling, only this time with bagels. "I've had it, Lucy! I've just _had_ it! Why? Why all this injustice?"

"Um…I…I don't know," she really had no idea _what_ injustice her friend was talking about so she had no way of answering her.

Sirius, thankfully, kept his mouth shut and kept eating breakfast.

"Why should _I_ have to sleep on the couch every night?" Dinah demanded, dropping her sixth bagel onto her plate and turning an entreating look to Lucy.

"Well…you shouldn't. I suppose if you wanted you could sleep on _our_ couch. Of course you're still sleeping on a couch then…" If Dinah was sleeping on the couch whatever sort of fight they'd had must have been a big one.

She thought she heard Sirius mutter something about sleeping in her own bed, but it wasn't loud enough for Dinah to hear.

Dinah sighed, "Thanks Lucy. I might just take you up on that offer. But still, it's the principle of the matter, you know?" she began to aggressively spread cream cheese onto one of her bagels; "You'd think that man would at least have the decency to switch with me nights? Why is it always _me_ that has to sleep on the couch? Three nights in a row! I tell you, it's not fair! _Why_?"

"_Because_," a much deeper voice sneered behind them, and both Lucy and Dinah turned to see Severus standing behind their chairs, glaring at his wife, "You don't even give me a chance to do anything else," he said, his tone mocking. "You rush back home every night and jump into that couch and pretend to be asleep." He snorted; "If anything is forcing you to sleep on the couch it's your own childish behavior," his expression was quite disgusted as he continued to sneer at her; "So_ childish_, Dinah."

Lucy shrank back in her chair, not wanting to get into the middle of this confrontation. It was reminiscent of the fighters her Mum and father used to have. Sniping at each other before Henley would finally blame everything on 'Lucille'. She hated that name. It wasn't even _her_ name but he used it because he knew how much it bugged Lucy and Jennifer.

Behind her Sirius stiffened and shoved back his chair a little, preparing to protect his wife and her friend if need be.

Dinah, on the other hand, shoved her chair back entirely, standing up to confront her snarling husband; "Go... _away_!" she shoved on his chest, but he did not budge.

"Hmph," he sneered, "Is that the most intelligent response you could come up with? Telling me to 'go away'? How immature."

"All right! I get it!" Dinah whimpered a little in the midst of her shouting, "I'm too childish and stupid for you! Fine! Why don't you go and torture some students, you sadistic, selfish, dungeon bat!"

"Dinah," Lucy murmured, torn between wanting to help her friend and also not letting Dinah leave Severus. She couldn't let him feel like she'd felt when Sirius had left her. Okay so Sirius hadn't left her. He'd died, but still the feeling was the same.

Severus blinked at her attack, and for an instant Lucy wondered if Dinah's words had stung him a little, but then his lip curled; "Selfish? Oh no, I believe that _that_ title, at least, goes unequivocally to you."

"Enough you two," Sirius said, rising and coming to stand between them and Lucy. "Look where you are. Do you really want to be doing this in front of the faculty and students?"

It was true. The faculty and student tables had gone eerily silent as the whole school seemed to be watching the confrontation. Dinah and Severus glanced at it, but both seemed to instantly brush it aside.

"Stay out of this, Black!" Severus snapped.

"Yes, stay out of it," Dinah agreed, and then turned to growl at her husband. "You, too! Get out of here!" she shoved on his chest again, "Leave me alone! I don't want to talk to you! I came over here to get away from you! Leave me alone, you horrible man!"

Yes. This time the words definitely stung him. But Dinah was hurt too. Why didn't they see that they were just hurting each other? Despite that, Severus growled right back, "Fine. I simply thought I should come over here and see what kinds of things you were telling these two about me. I see all you can do is complain about the sleeping arrangements that _you yourself_ have arranged. Remember that tonight, will you?" he sneered once more, and then turned on his heel, marching out of the Great Hall with his robes billowing behind him.

"Arrrgh!" Dinah screeched, slamming herself back down into her seat and grabbing again for her bagel and - unnervingly - the knife; "_Now_ do you see what I have to put up with?"

"Dinah," Lucy said, patting Sirius's arm as he sat back down. She was about ready to cry, a reaction that surely Severus would have hated, but she couldn't help it. "You can't…he's…I'm sorry," she finished, burying her face in her napkin, crying.

"Huh?" Dinah stopped, turning to Lucy after sticking her knife in some more cream cheese; "Can't what? Lucy, what's wrong?" her anger had seemed to die away leaving her only confused.

"You can't leave him! It _hurts _too much when people leave and he doesn't deserve that. Least of all from you."

"Leave him?" Dinah only looked more confused; "Who said anything about...?"

"Nobody," Sirius said, wrapping an arm around Lucy, "She's just worried about you two."

"M-m-m-mum and my father fought _all_ the time. Then she died," Lucy struggled to get out. "And you," she said, motioning at Sirius, "you left. And it _hurt_. Don't put him through that. Don't put him through what I went through. It's not fair."

Dinah's expression softened; "Oh, Lucy, I didn't realize you... Lucy, listen to me," she began, finally sounding more like the Dinah Lucy was familiar with and not the crazy person of the past few days, "I'm not going to leave him. I'm never, never,_ ever_ going to leave him. We're just having a fight. A big one, to be sure, but we'll work it out. Eventually;" she bit her lip and now appeared to be seeking reassurance, "Won't we?"

Lucy sniffled and nodded, "I think so."

"You will," Sirius said, sounding more sure of himself than Lucy did.

"Good," Dinah sighed, visibly relieved, "Uh, but for the time being would you mind if I took you up on your couch offer?" she asked sheepishly, and then turned to look in front of her; "Why do I have six bagels on my plate?"

Lucy giggled, "Because you keep grabbing them, spreading cream cheese on them, and setting them down to grab another."

"Oh," Dinah groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I hate being pregnant."

"You and me both. Anything and everything seems to make me cry and my robes aren't fitting well anymore."

"Yes..." Dinah agreed, glancing at her own abdomen. "Oh! Wanna go shopping? We can go shopping!"

"I'd love too! Maybe this weekend?"

"Great! I was thinking more tonight but I guess Gladrags will be closed by then. I don't think I'm thinking straight these days," she shrugged, "But let's go ahead and plan for Saturday."

"Oh," Lucy frowned, "I guess I don't know what I'm thinking either. I bet we could get in to see Nerissa tonight. I was thinking of Diagon Alley for some reason."

"Ah!" Dinah smiled, "Well maybe I would have thought about that too if I had been thinking weekend. Tonight's great. And, the, um... couch thing is okay? I promise I won't make any noise and you can even cast _Muffliato_ on me if you want to."

"Yeah, the couch is fine. And I'm sure we can control ourselves for awhile," Lucy grinned.

Sirius didn't comment on that, just stood and kissed Lucy, "I'm going to head back to our rooms. Have a good day."

"Mmm 'kay. I'll see you later."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Oh, look at you two!" Nerissa fussed when they walked in the door to her shop. "You're both getting so big. I still can't believe you didn't tell me you were pregnant when I was fitting you for your wedding dress, Lucy."

Lucy grinned, "Yes, well, very few people knew before the wedding."

"And I'm still adjusting to Professor Snape married; now I've got to adjust to him having a baby."

Dinah shrugged, ignoring the comment; "We're looking for maternity robes."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "and I thought we could start thinking about dresses for the Yule Ball. Though maybe we should put that off for now. You'll be able to make them, right?"

"Oh, sure. It'll be no problem," Nerissa said, "So maternity robes? I've got a small selection over here but I can order or make whatever you like."

"A variety of colors would be nice, I think," Dinah said, "And styles. So we can at least still _try_ to feel pretty."

"Oh, you both look great," Nerissa waved, leading them towards the section she'd mentioned.

"Don't lie," Lucy sighed, "I'm huge. I look like I'm having twins, which isn't comforting since Aunt Molly had twins."

"You're not having twins," Dinah assured her with a smile, "I'm sure somebody would have noticed by now. And you're not that huge. I'm already huger, see?" she turned to the side.

"No," she insisted and turned to the side too, "See, we're like the same size."

Nerissa laughed at them. "Oh, you two. Here," she said and held up a chocolate brown robe trimmed in lavender, "what do you think of this?"

"It's pretty," Lucy said, forgetting about how huge her stomach was, "If it fits I'll take it and that one too," she pointed at a plain burgundy colored robe.

"But I want that one! It's pretty! Do you have another?" Dinah asked Nerissa.

"Yes, of course. I suggest you make sure to wear them on different days," Nerissa said, handing Dinah a copy of the robe she wanted. "They'll fit. Really they're just like regular robes except they're loose in the midsection."

"Great. Do you have anything with gree - wait, no," she frowned, turning around so she wasn't facing either of them and sifting through the hangers, "I don't want green," she said quietly. "How about red? Oh, and a light brown... I usually have at least one pair of that color..."

"Right here," Lucy said, holding up a pair from where she'd buried her head in the rack. "Oh, I love this brown and light green combo too! Is three enough for now?"

"I think so," Dinah said, turning to Nerissa, "These will last us all the way through, right? And if we're ever desperate for something different we can always transfigure stuff or come back and buy more?"

"Of course," Nerissa smiled, taking Lucy's robes over to be packaged up and paid for. "The robes should fit all the way through, but if they don't they're transfigurable and resizable. I can order whatever you want, too."

"Thanks," Lucy nodded, looking over at the clock, "Oh! We've kept you open late! I'm sorry I didn't realize what time it was."

Dinah let out a heavy sigh, sounding glum, but smiled at Nerissa anyway as she took her own packages, "Thank you. Sorry if we've been a bother."

"Not at all," Nerissa waved them off, "Come back any time. I'm always happy to see you two."

"Thanks," Lucy repeated, "I'm sure we'll be back at some point." The two women walked out of Nerissa's store and apparated back to the gates of the school. "Well, are you glad we did that tonight?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," Dinah smiled, fingering her package, "I like the red. _Much_ better than the green at any rate. Oh, and thanks for letting me use your couch," she grinned at Lucy, seemingly all-smiles again.

"No problem," Lucy said, "the red will look gorgeous on you, just like your bridesmaid's dress. Just to warn you though," she said, shoving open the main doors, "you'll probably not want to jump into bed with us like I did with you and Severus. Sirius sometimes sleeps naked."

"Thanks for the warning, but I highly doubt I would ever do that," Dinah said with a lopsided smile and a raised eyebrow.

Lucy grinned, "Normally I wouldn't either, but those were exceptional circumstances." They were silent until they reached Lucy's rooms, where Dinah settled on the couch with a pile of blankets, her cat, and a book. Lucy grabbed a book of her own and snuck off to the bedroom to read and sleep close to her husband.

* * *

><p>Lucy snuggled into her Snuffles blanket, thinking of her husband, who had once again gone off and left her and Dinah to themselves. They'd had an interesting time together this morning, trying to be silent while Dinah was still sleeping on the couch. Sure they could have cast <em>Muffliato<em> on her, but they'd both woken up eager for each other and hadn't thought about it.

After they'd emerged from the bedroom, Dinah had practically been Lucy's Siamese twin, except for when they had class. She'd actually been in a better mood than she had been the last few days and it was making Lucy a little uneasy.

"So, what film did you want to watch tonight? Something girly?" Lucy asked, not knowing what else to say.

"I picked a comedy today," Dinah announced, settling onto the couch and holding a tape case thing out to show Lucy. "This one hasn't been released on DVD yet so I'm using the VCR again."

"Oh, so this one won't have the 'special features' and 'deleted scenes'? What about those booper things? Those are funny."

"No, I'm sorry," Dinah grinned, "But the movie should be funny enough for you." She put it in and they watched quietly for awhile, but soon began laughing at the funny parts.

Dinah was especially attentive as they watched, pointing out all of the best parts in advance so that Lucy didn't miss them and anxiously looking at her every once in awhile to gauge her reactions. She had a habit of doing that while watching movies with others, it seemed.

Dinah burst into laughter about halfway through, "Don't you just love that character? He's my favorite. Oh! And you must learn just so much about Muggle society by watching these films! I bet soon you'll be an expert just like you lived there all your life."

"I doubt it," Lucy laughed, "I still get the names of things wrong you know. Besides, Uncle Arthur has played with Muggle things for _years_ and I don't think he could pass for one."

Dinah shrugged, "I guess there's something to be said for being exposed to it from childhood then."

"Well, hopefully my kids will be better at it then. I _know_ yours will be."

"Yeah," she smiled down at her abdomen, "I hope so. It will be nice to raise them in both worlds from the beginning, and see what happens..." she smiled at Lucy and they went back to watching the movie for awhile.

"Do you want something to drink?" Lucy grinned.

"Oh, sure, I think I'll just have some water," Dinah said, smiling but not taking her eyes off of the screen. "The film's almost over and all but I think it... I'm... it..." all of a sudden, randomly and completely without any warning, Dinah burst into tears.

"Dinah! What's wrong? Did I do something? Say something? I'm sorry!" Lucy panicked. It was her instinct to think she'd done something wrong, but she couldn't think of what.

"I want my husband to hug me but he doesn't love me anymore!" Dinah sobbed.

"Oh, he does too!" Lucy said, starting to cry along with her friend. "I'm sure he'd hug you if you just asked! A few days ago, I yelled at Sirius not to touch me. Then I felt bad and cried and all I did was say his name and he opened up his arms and said, 'Come here'."

Dinah sniffled, "Really? But... but..." she pulled a handkerchief from her robes and, she pulled a handkerchief from her robes and clutched at it, "Why won't he say he's sorry? I didn't do anything! Except yesterday I... I said mean things to him and... and you said... you said you thought I was going to leave him. Why? Why did you say that?"

"I don't know!" she wept, wrapping her arms around her friend, "Mum and Henley always fought and he'd threaten to leave. She'd look so sad when he stormed out of the room. And then she died, and Sirius died, and I know it's not the same but…sometimes," she said, going back to what Dinah had said earlier, "people are stubborn and they want to be right and Severus seems like he might be one of those people."

Dinah seemed a little grateful for the contact and rested her head on Lucy's shoulder, wiping at her eyes with the handkerchief, "But why me? We had that confrontation and you immediately assumed that... it would be me that left him and not the other way around? Why? Am I such a h-horrible... p-person? Is it so easy to believe that I'd w-walk out on him? Why would you think that I'd do it? We were both saying mean things but you thought that I would be the one to hurt him, Lucy! Not that the other way around would be good either, but why was I your first thought? I... I promised him I'd never leave him and I promised him I'd never lie to him again but nobody believes me! I'm a horrible person!" she continued to sob, drawing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them to curl into a tight little ball.

"I guess," Lucy said, trying to calm down. All this emotion couldn't be good for the baby after all, "it's just that you have a family outside of Hogwarts, connections and people to shelter with. He doesn't really. You're not horrible," she sniffled, "I over-react sometimes, you know that."

Dinah sniffled and nodded, still curled into the ball, "I know, but... but..."

"Hey, you two still up?" Sirius asked, as he walked in on the pair of them. His expression changed when he saw both women curled up and bawling, "What's wrong? Do I need to call Madam Pomfrey? Is it Dinah? We can take Dinah to St. Mungo's can't we? Maybe that would be better?"

"No," Dinah whimpered, sniffling and shaking her head; "No. I want to go home."

"Okay," he said, warily, "do you want us to help you down to the dungeons or…"

"I'm not hurt!" she snapped, and then burst into tears again, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm being mean and nasty and disagreeable and awful. I know I've been annoying all week. But I'm pregnant! It's not my fault! I'm pregnant!"

"You're not being horrible," Lucy cried, "I was worse to Sirius last week! And you're hardly annoying! I was more annoying last year I'm sure!"

"I am going to kill Severus," Sirius muttered, putting a hand to his forehead and shoving his hair back. "Dinah, it's fine," he said, "I understand you're pregnant. Believe me I understand."

"Mm," Dinah nodded, wiping at her eyes again and _finally_ seeming to try to calm down. She uncurled from her ball the tiniest bit and said, "Thank you. But don't... don't kill him... I was mean enough to him on Wednesday... I just... I ... I wanna go home. I'm still going to sleep on the couch and I won't say anything to him still but... I just want to be there."

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked, calming a bit as her friend started to return to a normal emotional state, "You _can_ stay here if you want. It's no bother."

"No," Dinah shook her head, moving back to a normal sitting position on the couch. "I should go back. You said we'd work it out eventually but we won't if I keep hiding from him. I'm still angry and I still want him to apologize but I just want to _be_ there," she repeated.

She wrapped her arms around herself and said quietly, "He probably still won't hug me though..."

"I'm sure he would if you told him you wanted him to, but I can understand not wanting to tell him," Lucy said. "Though he can't know you want him to hug you unless you say so. He's not a…" she giggled, "well actually I guess he _is_ sort of a mind reader."

Dinah smiled a little, "Kind of. But he won't do it to me... it's nice of him." She sighed, "I can't make sense of this. I'm still furious with him but I also want this fight to just end... I don't know what to do. I should just go home," she stood.

"Okay," Lucy said, still a little unsure, but trusting her friend to know what was right. "Good luck," she stood and hugged Dinah a final time.

Dinah squeezed her back tightly and sniffled a couple more times, wiping her eyes again when she drew back, "Thanks, Lucy. Thanks for listening and letting me use your couch and... putting up with me all week. I'm sorry if I was mean. I'm sorry if I yelled at you just recently. I'm sorry if..." she trailed off.

"It's okay. Really. Oh!" she just remembered, "Don't forget your new robes."

"Oh, um... sure. Thanks again. Good night," she gave them both watery smiles and then collected her packages before heading out into the hallway and slowly making her way back to the dungeons.

"Well," Sirius sighed, "at least I only have one emotional pregnant woman on my hands now."

"Sorry," Lucy apologized, wiping her nose, "Dinah started crying and…well you saw the result."

"It's okay," he said, coming over to hug her.

"They'll be okay, won't they?" she asked, seeking the same assurance from him that Dinah had sought from Lucy. "I mean I know I said they would but…"

"They'll be just fine," he said, swaying back and forth with her, "Severus isn't one to let the people he loves go lightly. Look at how long he held on to Lily."

"But he never made up with Lily. He never apologized," Lucy said, starting to sniffle again.

"He tried. Lily just didn't want to hear it. Dinah will."

"I've never seen her react like that before," Lucy murmured as they slowly made their way to the bedroom, leaving Dinah's Muggle things lying around the living room. "You'd expect it out of me, I know, but not Dinah."

Sirius shrugged, "I hate to keep pointing it out but she _is_ pregnant. I've gotten the impression that makes one more emotional than normal."

Lucy grinned and swatted at him, "It does. But really, I'm worried about them. She shouldn't wait forever for him to apologize, but then neither one of them should _have_ to be the one to say sorry. This is going to keep me up all night I'm sure."

"Here," Sirius said, and she turned to see he'd already portioned out some of the sleeping potion.

"Thanks," she said, taking it, quickly changing and climbing into bed. "I know you're getting a little annoyed with her being here all the time, but I just keep coming back to how I was practically living with Dinah last year. I've got to be there for her. I'd do the same with Tonks."

"I'm not annoyed and I know you would," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Now, go to sleep. The baby needs its rest."


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. The holidays are a busy time for most I'm sure and after that I spent a few days hanging out with animalwriter and Zyphlat (another writer on this site). It was a good time and we even got a little bit of writing done too :-P Hope you all enjoyed the holidays as well. As always I also hope you'll enjoy this new chapter and leave a review letting me (and animalwriter) what you think.

On another note I just discovered (with the help of animalwriter) some editing mishap involving Chapter 23 and 24. They've been fixed and unless you've managed to read Chapter 24 in the hour or so it's been up before being edited you likely won't notice. Still I'd recommend rereading Chapter 23 on just so everything's clear and you don't miss anything.

* * *

><p>Chapter 24<p>

Saturday Dinah didn't seem in a better mood at breakfast. In fact she was rather glum and not very talkative at all. The most she did was pick up Godric from Lucy's rooms where she had left him without thinking the night before. She did tell Lucy, though, that she was going to work on her surveys and game nights in her office. Presumably Severus would be working in his. At least he'd seemed to do a lot of working before Dinah had come into his life.

Well, he might consider it meddlesome, but Lucy was determined to go down there and try to knock some sense into the man. It was with this feeling of courage that she boldly knocked on his door later that morning. "Severus, I need to speak with you."

"_Alohomora_," his deep baritone voice, sounding agitated, spoke the incantation and the door creaked open. He sat glaring at her from his desk; "Lucy," grunted with a curt nod. "What do you need from me?"

"Well," she said, coming in and closing the door before sitting in a chair, "I need you to apologize to Dinah…or hug her…or both really."

He sneered at her much like he had done in her school days. "And _what_, pray tell, convinced you that you needed to come in here and tell me that you 'need' these things?"

"Dinah. We'll not her specifically, but she had a meltdown in my rooms last night and I'm afraid she's going to go all…_me_ on me," she made a vague motion to herself, thinking about her zombified states of the past.

He seemed to consider this for a tiny moment, but his expression was completely unreadable. "And what makes you think I have something to apologize for?" his voice was quiet; menacing.

Lucy tensed and shifted in her seat. It felt like she'd pulled a muscle or maybe she just couldn't sit in that position for long anymore. "I'm not saying you do but _somebody_ has to apologize or you'll never sort this out. Then you'll _want_ to apologize but it will be too late and…and…" She stopped to breath for a minute and shifted again, "Look. I'm sorry. I do tend to over-react but regardless of whether or not you should apologize someone has too."

Severus stared at her for a moment, seemed to be turning her words around in his head as his frown deepened. He looked angry. Finally, he spoke in a tense snap, "Go away, Lucy."

That was all it took for her to start bawling again. "Don't be like this! I want to _help_ Dinah…and _you_. Nothing will ever get better if you two don't stop being a couple of stubborn…_Gryffindors_!"

That comment only made him look angrier. He positively snarled at her, "It is none of your business getting involved in our personal matters. We will work this out on our own. There is no need for you to bring your fatalistic overreactions into this; do you understand me, Lucy? You are catastrophizing. We will sort this out on our own in good time. You do not need to 'patch things up' between us. Get out."

His anger only made her sobbing worse and there was no way she was going to be able to make it out of the dungeons in this state, let alone all the way back to her room. "I don't think n-not talking to each other all w-week is working it out! Merlin and you two had the nerve to yell at me about not talking to Sirius about things!"

"Not talking about things of an important nature that must be disclosed is completely different than not speaking due to anger, can you not see that?" he growled, slamming his hand onto the table. "This is a personal argument. You should not get involved. And you do not need to get ridiculous ideas as to where it is leading that are completely unfounded!"

"Well, excuse me!" she huffed, using her sleeve to wipe at her face. Lucy's mind was now swirling too much for her to make any sort of sensible argument and she tried to get out of the chair she'd sat in. She eventually levered herself out and into a standing position, barely feeling the twinge of that pulled muscle near her left hip.

She was halfway to the door when Severus said, "Lucy."

"What?" she grumbled, fishing a hanky out of her robes that Sirius must have stuck in there and blowing her nose.

He sighed, "I am not telling you all of this to be cruel. I am_ trying_ to toughen you up, do you understand that? You _must_ stop this catastrophizing and these irrational fears that we will be unable to solve this on our own. Arguments between a husband and wife are normal. They pass. What your parents had was different than this. You have to learn to make the distinction."

She came back and sat down, picking at a loose string in the hanky. "I think," she whispered, "when I stop. And think about it. I know it was different. With them. But it's different, in the midst of it and these hormones don't help. I don't… I…I'm not _trying_ to butt in. Not really. She hasn't even told me what happened. I don't know. I don't think I understand. I guess I am just a stupid kid after all." She shrugged, "And I tried so hard to prove him wrong too."

Severus sighed and rested his forehead in his hand, shaking his head; "This is _not_ helping." He looked up at her with a stern expression, "You are not _stupid_, Lucy. You have been conditioned to behave this way, but you do not have to do so. _That_ is what I am trying to get through to you."

"Oh," she said and when she thought about it…he was right. She _didn't_ have to react this way. She'd still be her emotional self but she didn't have to feel stupid or like everything was her fault. "But I don't know how to stop."

He smirked, "I don't expect you to be able to stop instantly at all times from this point forward. Though you seem to have stopped now," he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I suppose," she said, blowing her nose again. "I think I've drained myself off all my energy, though. I can't quite decide if I'd rather take a nap or throw up." She stood a little more easily this time, but swayed a bit initially.

"You've apparently made yourself dizzy as well," he frowned.

"Mm," she agreed, as she took a moment to steady herself. "It'll pass, I'm sure." She took a few cautious steps towards the door before saying, "Severus? Thanks. For looking out for me. Even if I don't always know it or seem appreciative."

"Mmph," he grunted his acknowledgment, not meeting her gaze as he waved her off.

She didn't say another word, letting him go back to whatever he'd been doing earlier as she closed his office door behind her.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Lucy dozed on the couch while Sirius went to go pick up Ginny from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes early Sunday morning. Fred and George were in town, running the shop and preparing for the first Hogsmeade weekend.

"And here's our room," Sirius said, opening the door for Ginny.

Ginny giggled and looked at him, "I know. I've been here before."

Lucy started to shove herself up off the couch, a task that seemed to be getting more difficult by the minute, to greet her cousin but the other woman hurried over to say, "Oh, no. Lucy, don't get up. Mum says you should get all the rest you can. She made me promise to make sure you don't do too much."

"I _am_ capable of standing and walking around. Carrying things is another issue," she said, teasing her husband. Lucy stayed seated though when Ginny sat across from her in a chair and Sirius came around to sit next to her. "I guess I don't need to show you where the classroom or my office is since you already know where they are. I sent you all the books right? I plan on working as long as I can so you'll probably only need to read the ones assigned for second term but you might want to make yourself familiar with the others just in case. I think your best bet for learning is actually coming to class with me but we can't do that until tomorrow. The only other thing really is to show you where you're staying. It's Dinah's old room and Hermione'll be staying there with you."

"We've already been there to drop Ginny's things off Lu," Sirius said.

"Yeah," Ginny nodded, "It looks really nice. I can't imagine wanting to leave it to move to the dungeons, but it's her choice."

"Well, are you hungry then?" Lucy asked, feeling hungry herself. "What would you like? Some…oh! Apple fritters! Can we get some apple fritters?" she turned to Sirius.

Her husband just rolled his eyes, "You and your apples. Would you like those or something else Ginny?"

"Fritters are fine, but I should warn you Hermione plans on not letting anyone use the house elves when she gets here."

Sirius raised his eyebrow, "Yeah? Well, then she can run down to the kitchens and cook every time Lucy or Dinah wants something to eat."

"I think she might make an exception in that case. So," Ginny said, changing the subject, "I don't know if you've been reading the _Prophet_ but Rita's gone from taking jabs at you to praising you for 'carrying on the Black family legacy'."

"Black family legacy?" Lucy asked, while Sirius went to order the fritters, "Where does she come up with these things?"

"Probably some place we'd rather not know about."

"How about, after we eat, I have you help me do some grading? I can show you how I do it."

"Okay, that sounds like a good place to start," Ginny agreed. The fritters, once they arrived, were devoured, mostly by Lucy, and the two women got started on grading papers.

* * *

><p>Despite the episode on Friday, things had not really changed much. By the time Dinah had made it back to the dungeons that night she had calmed down significantly, and when she had walked in to see Severus standing in front of her she had recalled again the things she'd said that first night and her anger had returned, leaving her unable to do anything but glare at him. <em>That <em>time, he hadn't even given her a chance to jump in the couch, but had made a small snort and smirk in her direction and gone and slammed himself into the bedroom. She was left on the couch again by default.

Well, at least he couldn't call _her _the childish one that time! Even so, this was going on too long. Saturday had been a day of grading papers, making assignments, and working on Muggle-born surveys in her office while Severus worked on whatever he needed to do in his. But she had managed to do her couch routine that night, at least, getting her pride back, even if it _was _a childish pride.

They still hadn't spoken to each other since the encounter at breakfast on Thursday. And today had been much the same, all day in her office, at least until she ran out of things to do. When she had come back to the dungeons Severus had been gone. Probably doing something in his classroom. But still, Dinah had no idea how she'd ended up in her current, ridiculous position.

Sitting at the table stuffing her face with ice cream and donuts and unable to stop crying.

She had been doing it for what felt like hours, ever since she had summoned the smorgasbord here from the house elves, who must have been completely overworked with her eating habits as of late. She hadn't even taken the stimulant, but she was behaving as though she had doubled again, which couldn't be a good thing for Severus to see if he came back. He'd probably call her a liar again.

That thought summoned a fresh wave of sobs as she reached for a plate of apple fritters. She hadn't even requested those but they had shown up anyway. Perhaps the house elves had had an overabundance for some reason. She didn't really care. She only wished they could manufacture handkerchiefs as fast as they could cook food.

She was just reaching for a half-eaten bowl of pistachio ice cream and clutching a handkerchief in her free hand, while internally debating whether or not she should ask the house elves to send up some dill pickles, when she heard the door open.

She had no sense of pride anymore. She didn't look at him coming in, but she just kept eating and crying. Next thing she knew his presence was hovering over her as he stood next to the table.

And then his voice. The deep baritone somewhat hesitant and somewhat shocked, but mostly hesitant, "Dinah?"

"Hm? What?" she managed, turning her tortured gaze up to his face for the first time in what felt like forever. She didn't really feel angry. A little hurt and a little confused, though, especially when she saw the worried way he was looking at her.

"I'm sorry."

At first she wasn't sure she'd heard right, but the look on his face could leave no doubt of his sincerity. She whimpered and scrubbed at her eyes with the handkerchief, though it didn't do much good. "You said I lied to you."

"I'm sorry!" he repeated, sinking down into the chair across from her, his face and his voice tinged with desperation. It was a tone she had only heard twice before, both times from the young Severus. It was the way he'd said 'I'm sorry' to Lily for calling her a Mudblood, and the way he'd said 'I'm sorry' to her, Dinah, when he'd said some hurtful things that made him think she was going to abandon him as Lily had . It was the reaction he reserved for those moments that he knew he had done something completely awful and was absolutely desperate for forgiveness.

It was enough for her.

She flung herself at him and buried her face in his neck, as his arms came immediately around her and held her tight. So tight. What she'd wanted to feel for days now. She was finally feeling it. The warmth of his body, the softness of his skin and hair, the feel of his frock coat and bat-like outer robes. Him enveloping her, holding her, hugging her; "_Severus_," she found herself whimpering, sobbing, clutching him more tightly.

"Dinah…" he still seemed shocked, but his grip on her tightened, "I… I'm sorry," he repeated, as though still unsure that all had been forgiven, "I'm _so _sorry, Dinah."

"Mm," she shook her head. "It's okay. I'm sorry, too," she backed up a little to wipe her eyes on the handkerchief, but did not let herself go far. "I shouldn't have worried you with my eating habits."

"But you didn't do it on purpose!" he protested.

"N-no, b-but… but you only got so mad because you were scared for me and for the baby and…"

"But that was no reason for me to even suggest for a moment that you would lie to me, Dinah. I … I don't know what I was thinking. And the things I said to you on Thursday… there's no excuse for them either."

"No, I… it wasn't just you on Thursday, it was… it…" she sniffled and sat back, reaching for her ice cream bowl again.

"No," Severus placed his hand on hers, gently pinning it to the table. His deep brown eyes met hers, "Please, don't. Don't hurt yourself. Please," he requested softly, running his fingers gently across the back of her hand.

It hit her like a ton of bricks, then. She had known it already anyway, but the way he said it made it so painfully clear before her. How much he cared. How all of this had only stemmed from the fact that he loved her so much. She threw herself at him again, this time intent on not letting go. She was the luckiest woman alive. "Severus… oh, Severus. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for the things I said on Thursday and for calling you a horrible man…"

"It's all right," he shrugged a little, hugging her back to him, "After all," his voice grew distant, "That's what I am."

"NO! NO! NO!" Dinah screamed, shocked at his words, drawing back far enough to meet his gaze; "Don't you _ever _say that again, Severus, do you hear me?" she tilted his chin up to face her and pressed her forehead to his, "You _know _that is not true! You know I didn't mean it! You _have _to know that I didn't mean it! I'm pregnant and I was angry and I say things and … and I didn't mean it! How… how could a horrible man possibly care about me so much? Severus Snape, tell me you know that is not true and tell me that _NOW_!" she ordered.

"I-" he was sort of gaping at her, after that speech, but she could tell he had registered and understood her words. She knew he knew he wasn't horrible, but she had to hear him say it. They had to stop all this convolution and settle on the truths that they both knew. "I know," he murmured, closing his eyes and gently pressing his lips to hers. Oh, how she had missed this. His lips on hers. Their kisses, their closeness.

"I never want our fights to last this long again," she whimpered, cuddling close to him and pressing her face into his neck once more. "Never again."

"Never," he agreed, his fingers tangling in her hair, pressing her head closer to him. "Listen… I… if you don't want to take the appetite stimulant again I'll understand. We can stop. I promise. Anything you want."

She shook her head, "No. It worries me too, when I lose my appetite. You're always the one that vocalizes that worry but it _does _scare me too sometimes. I'll keep taking the stimulant when I'm not hungry, but… we've just… we have to be prepared for something like before to happen again. For my appetite to change and for it to double once more."

"We will be. We will develop some sort of plan of action to address the problem when it arises. It will not be ideal, but we can work it out."

"Thank you," she whispered, and then she laid there in his arms for a while longer, indulging in their contact, before speaking again in a whimper as her tears came back, "I missed you."

"Oh, _Dinah_," he moaned, sounding a little overwhelmed by her words as he tightened his arms around her, "Me too. I missed you, too. I'm sorry it ever got like this."

"Mm," she murmured, agreeing, closing her eyes to try and get these hormones or whatever to stop, but they just would not.

"Dinah?" he murmured, his lips softly brushing against her ear as he spoke.

"Mm?" It was all she could say at the moment, apparently.

"I love you," the whispered words were so tender, so gentle, and so perfect. The words she had wanted to hear for so long.

"Oh, Severus…" she found her voice again, "I love you too. I love you _so much_," she clutched his robes tighter, pressing herself into him, indulging in their reunion. He didn't say anything else in response, just nodded his understanding and held her even more tightly against him. And she was finally able to smile. It was okay. It was over. They had made it through their biggest fight and things were back to normal.

She had Severus again.

Everything was fine.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

"It looks so different from up here," Ginny said Monday morning. They'd squeezed her in between Lucy and where Eugene had used to sit before Dinah had made him move, at the head table and she was getting her first glance at the assembled student body.

Lucy made an effort to smile for her cousin, who watched her nearly as close Sirius did. She hadn't slept very well last night and had gotten a glance at one of those 'Black family legacy' articles Rita had been writing lately. She wished the woman would leave them alone but she didn't know what they could do about it. "It does, doesn't it?" she said, responding to Ginny.

Ginny nodded and looked at the empty seat on the other side of her, "So who sits here?"

"Um, well," Lucy hesitated, "Eugene used to, but then Dinah made him move…"

"Dinah and Severus had a fight and now she's clinging to Lucy. You should prepare yourself to be sitting next to a crazy person for awhile," Sirius told her.

Lucy flinched a little at the mention of being a crazy person, but it wasn't as bad now that Sirius knew about her time in the St. Mungo's mental ward. Still, she did worry that everyone would find out and it would all explode. She knew she'd be sacked, especially with parents still complaining about her morals.

"Oh," Ginny said, "I'm sure they'll work it out eventually though."

"It's been a week," Lucy said with nearly no emotion in her voice.

They chitchatted a bit more and when Ginny had finished eating, Lucy sent her along to her classroom, the key in her hand, so that she could get familiar with the classroom from a new angle. After Ginny had left Lucy turned to her husband, about to say something when a tap on her shoulder interrupted her.

Behind them stood Dinah and Severus, the former with a smile on her face, arms linked together.

"Dinah?" Lucy said, confused.

Dinah chuckled, reaching to grasp the front of Severus's robes with her free hand, "We made up," she smiled up at her husband. And then he was smiling too, and their foreheads and noses were both touching. Neither looked like they could tear their faces away.

Lucy stood as quickly as she could, ignoring the twinge in her side that had been bothering her since she woke. She launched herself at the couple, wrapping her arms around them and starting to cry. "That's so wonderful! And I'm not being irrational," she said, pulling back and looking at Severus, "I'm being hormonal."

He sighed. "I understand. And... perhaps I was a bit harsh with you on Saturday. For that I do apologize."

She shook her head, "It's okay. You were just trying to help."

"He was 'harsh' with you? Is that why you were so upset Saturday?" Sirius asked, looking a little ticked off.

"It's fine," she insisted.

"Lucy, you came back to the rooms and threw up. You haven't been doing that at all for weeks. That's not fine."

"It's not his fault. I over-reacted, got myself all worked up. That was my doing. Not his."

Severus sighed, "Again, I apologize. Dinah explained that you were afraid she would somehow leave and hurt me, and I suppose your concern is..." he frowned, looking like he didn't want to continue, but Dinah nudged him a little and he finally concluded, "appreciated. The fact that you care so much is appreciated. However, you must understand that Dinah would never leave me and that we are both fully aware of this fact. I never thought for a moment that she would do such a thing. The opposite is, of course, also true, but please don't think that of Dinah again," he finished, somewhat sternly.

Dinah smiled at her husband and tightened her grip on his arm, and then turned that smile to Lucy, "You have to have a little more faith in us, Lucy. Do you honestly think we could ever leave each other after everything that happened last year? Everything we went through that led us to this point?"

"Well," Lucy blushed, "not if I'm being rational about it no, but…never mind. We all know I have enough emotional baggage to go on a world tour with. Anyway, I'm glad you two made up. I'm sure the baby's glad too."

"I'm sure," Dinah smiled, resting her hand on her abdomen.

Severus covered her hand with his own, smiling slightly, "Come. Could we _please_ go and get Slughorn out of your seat now?"

Dinah laughed, "Oh, I don't know. Are you sure you don't want to spend a couple more days with him?" At his growl she laughed, "Oh, come now, I'm just messing with you. Lucy, I hope you don't mind that I leave you two and return Eugene to his rightful place," she smiled.

Lucy grinned, "No. You can go make food piles over in your original seat. Oh, Ginny arrived yesterday if you haven't seen her. We got her settled in your old room last night and she's already gone off to get familiar with the classroom and my office."

"What food piles?" Dinah looked genuinely confused, "Oh, and Ginny's here? I'll have to go and say hello! Hermione is set to arrive tomorrow."

Severus had now chosen to begin grumbling incoherently.

Sirius stared at Dinah, "Really? Six bagels and fourteen slices of toast ring a bell?"

"Hm?" Dinah asked absently. "Oh. Yeah. I'm not sure how any of those got there. Let's go home, Sev," the two were gazing into each others' eyes again and making their way back across the staff table to their seats.

Lucy didn't sit back down, "I should probably go see how Ginny's doing before class starts. See you at lunch?"

"Probably not. I've got that meeting with McGonagall. Something about helping to tutor kids in Transfiguration. Not sure how long it will run."

"Okay," she nodded, a little disappointed that she wouldn't see him at lunch, but glad he was at least willing to listen and entertain the notion of tutoring. "I'll see you later then," she said and placed a hand on her stomach as she ambled out of the Great Hall.

* * *

><p>Lucy looked up as a school owl dropped a note on her desk during her office hours that morning. She'd left Ginny in the classroom to do some reading for the next class. The letter was addressed to Lucy in Minerva's handwriting.<p>

_I thought you should be aware of this._

Inside was a rather official looking document. It read:

_It has come to our attention that one of your professors, one Mrs. Lucy Black, spent several months inhabiting the fourth floor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. In light of this information, along with statements previously made regarding the timing of Mrs. Black's pregnancy, we are writing to inform you that we intend to investigate these incidents, as well as Mrs. Black's suitability to be teaching and caring for our youth. She may continue in her normal activities until such time that we deem it inappropriate. We expect both your and Mrs. Black's full cooperation during this time._

_ Hogwarts Board of Governors_

This was it. They'd finally found out about her seven month stay in St. Mungo's. Everyone had told her not to worry, but they didn't have to dread getting this sort of letter. Her breathing quickened and her eyes filled with tears. Now she was _sure_ she was going to be sacked. Or at least suspended or something. Parents weren't thrilled that she was teaching their children having gotten pregnant prior to her marriage. They'd be livid at the thought of a mentally unstable professor teaching the students.

She was emotional. That was no secret. Neither was her tendency to over-react. Somehow she doubted either trait would help her case. She shifted in her seat, that twinge from earlier coming a bit stronger now. Lucy knew she had to calm down. She had to at least make it through her seventh year class, then she could talk to Sirius or Minerva…maybe Dinah. She'd talk to someone at least.

But how had the Board of Governors found out? She didn't think they'd have had any reason to be investigating her and certainly the hospital wouldn't have told them. Then again, it didn't really matter how they found out right now. She had to make it through one more class without an emotional outburst. She just had to…

* * *

><p>Lucy and Ginny had hurried over to Dinah's class so they could walk with her to lunch. Lucy thought she'd been doing a good job of ignoring the Board of Governors letter. She hadn't forgot about it that was for sure, but she was determined not to think about it and give them the satisfaction of proving them right about her mental state.<p>

"I think if they would-" she hissed, drawing in a breath as the pain drew across her stomach again. This time the twinge was more than that and it made her stop in the middle of the hall. It was definitely stronger than they had been earlier in the day.

Ginny put her hand on Lucy's shoulder and Dinah asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's gone n-" again the pain stopped her words.

"I think we should take you to the Hospital Wing," Ginny said.

"No, no. It was just a little twinge. I've been having them all day."

"All day?" Dinah asked as Lucy winced again, "Lucy, you need to be checked out. There could be something wrong with the baby."

"No, I'm fine. Really," Lucy insisted, before bending over when the pain grew worse. "Maybe we'd better go," she relented, "but we have to go get Sirius. He has to know."

"Ginny will go get him," Dinah assured her, calm in the face of Lucy's growing panic, "I'll take you up to Poppy."

Ginny ran off to find Lucy's husband and Dinah maneuvered them so she could help Lucy walk. She leaned heavily on Dinah as they took a couple steps in the direction of the Hospital Wing. "Wait!" Lucy said, feeling panicky, "He's not in the Great Hall. He was having a meeting with Minerva. Ginny won't find him!"

Everything seemed to be falling in on her at once. The upset parents, her mental health, the baby…nothing was going right and she needed her husband. He'd help.

"Okay..." Dinah said, cautiously, still the picture of calm, though her eyes were worried, "What do you want me to do?"

Lucy winced again, finally realizing these weren't just twinges and pulled muscles she'd been feeling. "I have to go. I can't –I can't wait. Dinah," she said, starting to cry, "what if…what if something happens to the baby?"

"It's okay," Dinah said softly, squeezing her shoulders, "Poppy will help. We'll figure something out. And as_ soon_ as I get you in there I'll go and run and get Sirius, okay? Hey, maybe when Ginny sees he's not in the Great Hall she'll ask somebody and they'll know where he is. Does anyone else know?"

"I don't know," Lucy said, trying to concentrate on walking as Dinah started leading them to the Hospital Wing again. "I think so. Maybe Pomona. Slughorn? He seems to know everything that's going on. Eugene! Eugene knows! I saw him talking to Sirius as I was leaving breakfast this morning."

"Well, then Eugene will help. And Ginny would surely think to ask him because he sits right next to the area you are all sitting in. Where I was sitting up until..." she frowned, "Oh. Severus is going to wonder where I am when I don't meet him there. When he sees Ginny panicking he'll probably find out what's going on too," she chuckled, "Unless of course the concept of approaching both Harry Potter's girlfriend and his arch-nemesis at the same time is too daunting a task."

Despite her tears and panic, Lucy giggled, "It's funny to think of Severus being intimidated. He's so intimidating himself…ow." The hospital wing seemed so close now and yet an entire staircase separated the two women from the place Lucy needed to be.

"Can you stay here?" Dinah asked Lucy, "For just a moment? I'll run and get Madam Pomfrey and maybe we can levitate a bed over to you and take care of this. I don't think I want you taking the stairs in this state."

"I think so," she sniffled, "but I think I should sit." She levered herself down onto a stair. Getting down there wasn't a problem…getting up would be.

"I'll be right back," Dinah assured her, before rushing off up the stairs. To her credit, she seemed to at least be watching where she was going.

By the time Poppy had arrived with Dinah and a bed, Lucy was more or less in hysterics. Poppy managed to stand her up and get Lucy to sit on the bed. "Now lay down," she instructed, "and we'll get you taken care of."

The moment Lucy lay down, the bed was levitating and the trio made a quick retreat to the hospital wing. Once she was settled, Dinah made to leave and go search for Sirius as she'd promised. Lucy however had changed her mind, "Dinah, don't leave me here alone. Please?" She wasn't sure if she could be understood through her tears and panic and Madam Pomfrey kept telling her to 'calm down' but Dinah stopped and turned back.

"Whatever you want," Dinah said gently, settling down on the bed next to her and placing a hand over hers. "Do you want to send him an owl? We can send him an owl, can't we, Poppy?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Poppy said, distractedly. She waved her wand over Lucy, at her potions table, then over Lucy again.

Lucy couldn't stop crying and the pain was starting to get worse. She watched Dinah for any signs her panic was not unwarranted, but Dinah remained calm. Lucy chattered insensibly at her friend. Her words full of worry and stress and no logic whatsoever.

Finally, having grown frustrated with Lucy's inattention, Poppy grabbed her face and forced Lucy to look at her. "If you do not calm down _right now_ and do as I say, you stand a very good chance of losing this baby."

Her statement didn't help Lucy's terror but it did get her to stop talking and try to breathe normally.

"Drink this and this," Poppy said, handing her a coppery potion then a yellow one. She held out another bottle, "This is a sedative. I suggest you take it but I doubt you will until Sirius shows up."

"No," Lucy shook her head, using her elbows to try and shove herself into a sitting position, "I need to…"

"You need to stay in this bed," Poppy said, gently pushing Lucy back down and looked over at Dinah, "I need to go floo St. Mungo's and check on a few things. Don't let her up out of this bed. Use a full-body bind curse if you have too."

"Yes," Dinah said solemnly, looking a little apprehensive at the prospect, but not like she didn't have every intention of following through.

It seemed like Poppy had been gone forever, but Lucy hadn't attempted to get out of bed, much as she wanted to. The one time she'd moved her arm to wipe at her face, Dinah had pulled out her wand, looking ready to bind her. She didn't seem like she really _wanted_ to do it, but would if necessary.

Poppy still wasn't back yet when Sirius _finally_ rushed through the hospital doors, Ginny close behind him. After them came Severus, looking for Dinah. When Sirius reached her bedside, Lucy burst into tears again.

The poor man had to lean down to hug her, since she was too afraid to move. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm better now," she wept, raising her arms to hug him back, trusting that Dinah wouldn't curse her for it. "The baby…"

Sirius pulled back and looked around at the assembled crowed, looking for someone who could tell him about his wife and child. Ginny hovered awkwardly in the background and Severus had sat next to Dinah, his arms around his clearly upset wife.

"Poppy was contacting St. Mungo's for more information," Dinah explained quietly. "She's been rushing around. I don't really know all the details of what's going on, but _something_ is very wrong. She mentioned the possibility of... well, just a possibility only if Lucy didn't calm down... losing the baby," Dinah finished in a barely audible whisper.

Ginny gave a little squeak and Sirius's face turned back to Lucy's. She was about to explain as best she could when Poppy showed up at the bedside. "I told you to calm down," she repeated.

Lucy worked very hard at getting to a calmer state. Sirius had sat on the bed next to her and held her hand, rubbing his thumb over the inside of her wrist.

"It seems," Poppy started, "taking into consideration your last couple of visits here, that you've been under a great deal of stress and that brought on some contractions. You _weren't_ in labor, but if you had continued on you would have ended up there. I talked with the mediwitches at St. Mungo's and they confirmed what I had planned to order for you. A week or two of total bed rest, ample amounts of relaxation, and then we'll reevaluate.

"You are staying here overnight at least and you _are_ going to take that sedative, but I'll allow you some time to visit before you have to take it."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Dinah murmured, her head falling onto Severus's shoulder. "Is there anything we can do, Poppy?"

"Keep her calm and don't let her out of that bed for now. We all know Lucy's been stressed the last few weeks, but I'm guessing something happened today to make it worse. The best thing for her right now though, is rest. I'm going to do a bit more research so I'll be in my office if you need me."

Lucy was vaguely aware of Poppy leaving and Ginny mumbling something about class before she too, ran off. "Where'd Ginny go? I-I have Septimus this afternoon. I don't want her dealing with him alone just yet."

"Relax," Sirius said, stroking her forehead, "she's just gone to cancel classes for this afternoon. Then she'll probably go update Minerva on what's going on."

"Oh, that's good," she settled down for a minute before shifting around, trying to reach her pocket where she'd stuffed that letter from the Board of Governors. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to deal with it at all, but she wasn't going to let this be another thing she kept from Sirius until it was too late.

"Lucy, settle down," Sirius said, "whatever it is can wait."

"No," she insisted, finally grabbing on to the crumpled parchment, "Minerva sent this to me. She received it this morning." Lucy held the letter out to her husband.

He smoothed out the parchment and stared at it for a few moments before murmuring, "It has come to our attention that one of your professors, one Mrs. Lucy Black, spent several months inhabiting the fourth floor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."

Dinah's eyes widened and she drew in a gasp. Severus simply stared at them with that normal expressionless look on his face.

Lucy watched as Sirius read the rest of the letter. She sank farther and farther into the bed as he did so.

"Okay," he said slowly, "They know. You got this this morning?"

She nodded, silently crying but not nearly as bad as she had been earlier, "Yes, but I was trying not to over-react, to make it a bigger deal than it was. I wasn't hiding it from you! I'm going to be sacked for sure this time. I just know it."

"We don't know that yet," Dinah said gently, but Lucy could not miss that she looked worried. To hide it, apparently, her friend chose to glare around at the group, "And what exactly took you all so long to get here? What was Ginny _doing_?"

"We'd gone outside," Sirius told her, "It's nice out and Minerva thought our meeting would be better conducted outside. We hadn't gone far, but…Eugene sent her to the Headmistress's office. He had no way of knowing we weren't going to be there."

Severus snorted, "I knew Eugene would have to be involved somehow when she was asking him questions at lunch."

"What did you do, follow her around?" Dinah demanded.

Her husband shrugged, "I assumed she would know where you were but I wasn't going to ask her. I kept my distance until she started talking to Sirius in a panic. Then I tried to find out what was going on and we were led here."

Lucy started looking around the hospital, a feeling of dread settling in her stomach. "I want to go home," she whimpered.

Sirius frowned, looking worried still, "Everything's going to be fine. I'm staying with you."

"I can stay too if you want, or we both can," Dinah offered, "Can't we, Severus?"

"Mm. I suppose. If we must."

"But you have classes and lunch is almost over," her lip quivered, "I just want to go home," she repeated.

"It's okay," Sirius said, "Why don't you have some of this and we'll see about going home tomorrow?" Sirius helped to sit her up enough for her to drink the sedative Poppy had placed nearby.

Poppy's potion only took a minute to work and soon Lucy was safely sleeping, not worrying about anything that had happened that day.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: hanks for the reviews! I'm glad you like the story and our world so far. I have to admit I might be taking some liberties with what would actually happen in a pregnancy but I'm doing my best to keep it realistic while at the same time making sure the story goes in the direction I want it to. Again, hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 27<p>

The sedative had done it's job well. Lucy slept through the afternoon, waking up to eat dinner, then took a little more of the potion and slept the rest of the night. When she'd woken for dinner, Sirius was there, seemingly in the same spot he'd been when she'd fallen asleep. Dinah and Severus hadn't been there, but she hadn't expected them to be either. This morning Sirius had assured her that they'd come to check on her and the baby after dinner.

Poppy asserted that Lucy must be feeling better with all the arguing she was doing that morning.

"I want to go home," she insisted again.

"And you will be going, just as soon as we get through all your new restrictions," Poppy insisted.

Lucy didn't want to hear any of them she just wanted to go back to her rooms and back to normal.

"I'll be transporting you to your rooms on a stretcher; otherwise you're not going back to your rooms. You are to remain in bed at all times, except for trips to the restroom. I don't want you getting out of bed for at least a week. And absolutely no….sex.

"I've double checked with the mediwitches at St. Mungo's and as long as you remain calm, everything should be fine. I'll come down to check you in a week or so and we'll go from there. I don't imagine you'll remain on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy though."

"Can I at least sit up in bed?" Lucy asked, a touch irritated.

"Yes," Poppy responded in the same tone. "Now, if we don't get moving along, we'll run into a whole bunch of students along the way and I'd like to avoid that if we could."

Lucy nodded, and finally let Sirius, who'd been unusually quiet this morning, and Poppy move her over to the stretcher. It didn't take long to transfer her from the hospital wing back to her rooms and they were blessed with not meeting any curious, early rising students.

Poppy had no sooner left, before Lucy was trying to get out of bed.

"Lucy!" Sirius growled, gently pushing her back down. "You have to stay in bed."

"But if I don't go to class the students will think I'm crazy and they won't be on my side and…I need them on my side. It helped Dinah last year when the students were on her side about the whole parselmouth thing."

"That was different and Dinah wasn't pregnant and on bed rest," Sirius insisted, getting some breakfast settled on the bed, "Now, eat and stay there."

"But…"

"Ginny is taking care of your classes. They've called in Grubbly-Plank to help her, but everything is going to be fine. She's more than capable of handling those kids, both of them are."

"But…"

"Hello?" Ginny called from the living room.

"In the bedroom," Sirius called back.

"Hi," her cousin said, with an annoying grin on her face. "I went up to the hospital wing but Madam Pomfrey said you were down here. How are you doing?"

"Fine," Lucy bit out.

"Great! I haven't told Mum what happened yet. I wanted to wait until you were doing better before she started fussing. Anyway, I also wanted to go over some stuff for class, if that's okay?"

"It's fine," Sirius said, "I'm going to go up and let Dinah and Minerva know what's going on. Do you mind staying with Lu, Ginny?"

"No, of course not."

"Try and get her to eat and _don't_ let her out of bed," Sirius said, kissing Lucy before he headed out. Lucy couldn't decide if she was glad to see him go or not. With him gone she had a better chance of getting out of bed, but then he did make her feel better about this whole incident. She glanced over at her cousin. Never mind, she wouldn't have an easier time getting out of bed with Sirius gone. Ginny was definitely her mother's child.

* * *

><p>"Dinah, Severus," Sirius nodded, standing behind them at the head table.<p>

"Oh!' Dinah put down her fork and turned, "How's Lucy?"

"Better. She's irritated and on bed rest. Ginny's with her now so I imagine they're arguing about staying in bed. I was wondering if either of you would mind stopping by at some point and help distract her? She already thinks she has to go to class and get the students on her side."

"Hermione is due to arrive this afternoon, but not until my office hours," Dinah said, "Sev and I have a break right before that. Maybe we can come by then."

Sirius nodded, snatching some bacon from the table, "Whenever you've got the time. Her mood's not likely to improve. She's been restricted from certain activities…I was thinking of sneaking Jania or Agrona down to our rooms for a visit. It might cheer her up a bit and convince her the students are on her side…if they even know about the whole thing. I haven't seen the _Prophet_ yet today."

"There was nothing in the _Prophet_," Dinah said. "Really, that letter sounded like a very private communication between the Board of Governors and Minerva. Hopefully there's no way Rita can get a hold of the information."

"I wouldn't think so," Sirius said, tearing the bacon apart, "but she has this annoying habit of finding things out no matter how careful we are. I might have to do her some serious damage if she prints _anything_ about Lucy."

"Be careful about that," Severus murmured, speaking for the first time and pushing the plate of bacon out of Sirius's reasonable reach. "Remember Lucy's summer worries about Azkaban."

"I know," he said, leaning over the table to reach a couple more pieces of bacon. "I'd probably employ your more experienced stealth in that case."

"_Dinah_ is the violent one these days," Severus smirked. "Eat the bacon on your own side of the table."

He sighed, looking over to where Lucy's empty chair sat next to his, "I should probably go relieve Ginny. She's taking over Lucy's classes for the rest of the week. A bit earlier than we planned, but Grubbly-Plank's here to help her and Lucy can figure out assignments so it'll just be dealing with the students that Ginny might have a problem with, depending on the class."

"I see," Dinah nodded.

"You disciplining students," Severus almost looked amused, "I'd love to see that."

"Well, you're out of luck. Snuffles will be the one sitting in on classes with Ginny and not for a couple days yet until I can trust Lucy won't get out of bed. Anyway, I'll see you two later," he said, snatching a last couple pieces of bacon.

* * *

><p>"I'm tired of being in bed!" Lucy grumbled.<p>

"Do you want me to get you something to read?" Sirius offered, sitting at the end of the bed, rubbing Lucy's feet.

"No! I want to _do_ something. I need to talk to the Board of Governors or St. Mungo's or _something_. I can't just sit here." Normally she had no problem being still but being forced to remain in bed really made her want to get up and walk around…or do anything else really.

"Relax," Sirius said. He kept saying that. It was starting to get irritating. "If you're patient maybe you'll get visitors."

"I can't do this for the rest of the pregnancy," she said, running her hand over the baby, "It's barely been a day and I'm already going stir crazy."

"Well," Sirius said, "if you do what Madam Pomfrey tells you, maybe she'll let you out of bed." He moved her feet out of his lap and moved to sit next to her on the bed.

Lucy groaned when his lips touched hers and pressed herself up against him, one of her hands wandering down to rest in his lap. Lucy smiled inside when Sirius groaned, but it quickly turned into a scowl as he pulled her hand away.

"Lucy, no. I love you, but no. You know we can't."

"I know," Lucy frowned, "I don't _want_ to do anything to harm the baby. I just don't want to be stuck here."

Sirius grinned and rested his forehead against hers, "I know. Believe me I know what it's like to be stuck some place."

Lucy was about to respond when they heard a loud knock at the front door.

"See?" Sirius said, getting up off the bed, "I told you. Be patient and visitors will come."

"Who is it?" Lucy asked, eager to see someone from the 'outside'.

Sirius chuckled, "How should I know? I'm in here with you. I'll be right back and hopefully I won't be alone."

It seemed to take ages before Sirius came back, though it probably wasn't that long at all. Behind him were two of her favorite people.

"Dinah! Severus!" she was ridiculously happy to see them and had to make an effort not to try and get out of bed to greet them.

Dinah grinned, "Hi! We brought you something! I had the house elves make a bunch of apple treats for you and put them in a little gift basket," she set it on the side of the bed, "Oh, and I brought the red-trimmed robe I bought at Hogsmeade last week. I like it and I wore it a couple times. I thought it might be fun to trade back and forth with the red and green, since... well, I was sort of against green at the time but I really wanted a green one. You know, so I can dress Slytherin for Sev every once in awhile."

Dinah's thoughtfulness made Lucy burst into tears, "Thank you! That's so nice. The green one's over there in the dresser. Second drawer." She said, directing Sirius to get it for her friend. She couldn't resist the impulse to delve into the apple gift basket and pulled out an apple dumpling. "This is probably the best thing I've ever eaten," she groaned.

Dinah giggled, "I'm glad. Um..." suddenly she looked rather ravenous, "want to share?"

"Um," Lucy considered it for a moment, "okay." She reached into the basket again and pulled out another dumpling for her and one for Dinah too. "So Hermione hasn't arrived yet? How's Ginny doing? I haven't heard."

"Not sure. I'm sure she's doing fine if nobody has said anything," Dinah assured her. "Hermione's due to meet me in my Office Hours after my break is over, so quite soon. She may even have arrived by now. We're going to have a nice, long meeting, and then I bet she and Ginny will be happy to spend the evening with you. I've got to work on my second game night, after all. I'm glad Minerva suggested every other week to start. It's a lot of work and a lot of stress."

"Well, don't stress too much or you'll be stuck in bed too," Lucy said, only partially joking. "Oh! Maybe you and the girls can come over one night and we can watch a film or something. We'd all have to squeeze into this bed of course and you don't have to if you don't want to. We did watch a lot of films over the last week…"

She giggled, "We'll see. I think I can manage at least one film night with the girls. As long as I don't have to sleep on any couch."

"I won't let you," Severus said with a slight smile, speaking for the first time today. He looked at Lucy, "Is there anything else you need or want? Dinah thought about bringing books but was not sure if there was anything specific you were looking for."

Sirius grimaced, "Don't ask her what she wants."

"What I really _want_ is to get out of bed, but I don't think you can make that happen. Books would be lovely. I can maybe help with some game night stuff? I'd have to do it here of course…I don't know I'm just bored."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "I asked if you wanted me to get you something to read earlier."

"How about I come here during meals and breaks tomorrow then?" Dinah offered. "I'll bring you a selection of books and we can talk about the game night or whatever you like. When I'm not working with Hermione and stuff."

Lucy perked up at the though, "All right! That sounds good. It will be the highlight of my day. As long as it's okay with you Severus? I don't want to be monopolizing Dinah's time."

"As long as you allow me most evenings and the occasional meal," he responded.

Dinah smiled, nuzzling his cheek, "Of course," she whispered in his ear. "That won't be a problem. Oh, but Lucy will have to be on appetite guard duty," she grinned first at her husband and then at Lucy, "We've got a system. If I'm not hungry for five minutes I take the stimulant, but if I start exhibiting any kind of extreme eating behavior you must do everything in your power to stop me. Even if you have to do what Poppy told me to do for you..." she left it hanging, raising an eyebrow to illustrate her point.

Lucy giggled, fingering Sirius's wand that he'd left on the bed, "That might be all I _can_ do. Wrestling food out of your hands might be classified as over exerting myself."

"Not with my wand you're not," Sirius said, snatching it from her fingertips.

"Aw, come on," she said, in a much better mood, "You tried to _give_ Severus your wand over the summer."

"Oh, yes, I remember that!" Dinah cooed, "Such a sweet little moment of trust between the boys."

Severus growled, "Is it time for your meeting with the Know-it-all yet?"

Lucy sighed and looked at her clock, "Probably." Severus hadn't moved, but suddenly his robes did. Dora had finally made an appearance and was playing in Severus's bat-like robes.

Severus sighed, "She's starting to act like Godric."

Dinah looked sheepish, "Must be all that time they spent together last week."

Lucy nodded, "They did spend a lot of time hiding out together."

Severus leaned over, picked Dora up, and placed her decidedly on the bed, "Don't do that."

Dora pawed at him a few more times from her new perch before Lucy reached out and grabbed her. "Oh, leave him alone. He has to go."

"Yes, I should get to my office in case Hermione arrives early. I'll come by at breakfast tomorrow if not before, okay?" Dinah said. "So you'd better relax and feel better!"

Lucy blushed and cuddled her cat, "I'll try."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"Well, that's pretty much it," Dinah smiled at the conclusion of her Office Hours with Hermione. "I think you'll do just fine. The next thing is sitting in on classes, being introduced to the students, and the like."

"Of course," the former Gryffindor smiled, "I think I'll enjoy having some teaching experience. See how I like it. Though I'm mostly interested in a Ministry career, I think."

"Both have their merits," Dinah smiled, nodding. "You heard about Lucy, I presume?"

"Ginny owled me right after it happened. Are they all doing okay?"

"I said you'd probably go over and visit about now. I'm going to go have dinner in the dungeons with my husband. You are, of course, welcome to join me but I doubt you'd be interested."

Hermione laughed, a bit nervously, "Thanks for the offer, but no. I don't think Professor Snape is anywhere near ready for such a thing. I mean… he's a lot better now that he's with you. Even called on me every once in a while last year, but… no…" she giggled nervously again.

Dinah had to chuckle, "I understand. Don't worry about it. He can be pretty stubborn. Sorry about how rude he was till you up until I got him to start being a little tamer…"

"Oh, it wasn't so bad," Hermione assured her, "And at least the worst is over. I mean, the only time it really bugged me was that incident in fourth year…" she trailed off.

"What incident was that?" Dinah asked, curious.

"Oh," Hermione blushed, "It was nothing. I probably shouldn't…"

"Oh, come now, you can tell me! I should know these things, after all!" she grinned.

Hermione seemed a little more at ease, "Well… back then my front teeth were a little… um, big," she paused, looking a little embarrassed, "And Draco and Harry were fighting and Draco managed to spell them to grow even bigger and longer with _Densaugeo_… he had been trying to hit Harry but hit me instead…"

Dinah sighed, "Oh, that boy! I've only met him twice and he seems much improved but the stories I've heard of his antics in his school days. That's a horrible thing to do," she said sadly, "And let me guess, Severus didn't take any points away from him at all?"

"Well, not that I know of but… the bad thing was…" her blush deepened, "Well, he saw what happened he told me that… he didn't notice any difference."

"What?" Dinah shrieked, standing from her chair and staring at Hermione. She couldn't process this. That was just… _cruel_. "He said that to you?"

"Uh… yeah, but it was a long time ago and I'm over it!" Hermione said hurriedly, looking a little unnerved at her reaction.

"That's not the point!" Dinah said. "He is going to hear about this. Oh, he is _definitely _going to hear about this right now!"

"You don't have to do that," Hermione assured her.

"Oh, but I do," Dinah protested. Her Severus was _such _a good man but really he could be an awful git sometimes. And yet she had _never _imagined he would do something like that when… "Especially because it was something like that," Dinah said quietly, looking at Hermione, "there is no reason for him to treat anyone like that and he knows it. He's going to hear about this for sure."

"Well, whatever you like…" the young woman seemed to give up, standing. She smiled, "I appreciate the gesture, you know. Wow, it's still crazy that you two are a married couple, when I think about it."

Dinah smiled a little, "It works for us. But that's why I have to make absolutely certain he knows what he did was wrong and why it was wrong and doesn't ever do anything like that again."

"Thanks…" Hermione chuckled, heading out of the room and through the halls in one direction while Dinah stormed off towards the dungeons in another, intent on having this out with Severus _right now_.

* * *

><p>"Severus Snape!"<p>

Severus looked up from the _Evening Prophet_, a little shocked at Dinah's tone and her use of his full name as she stormed decidedly into their rooms. "Yes?" he asked, eyebrow raised, waiting to figure out what this was all about and what he had done without knowing about it.

She stood above him, hands on her hips, a slightly intimidating sight and he was not intimidated easily. "I just finished my meeting with Hermione!" she declared.

"Oh," he wasn't intimidated enough not to sneer at the mention of that girl, "The Insufferable Know-It-All. Lovely. As I'm sure you recall, I was already aware of this."

"Don't be like that!" she shrieked. "You are in very big trouble, you should know that," her voice lowered again but became more… sinister.

"What did I do?" he had to ask.

"Oh, what did you do?" she scoffed. He was _really _starting to wonder what all of this was about now. "Hermione was telling me about an incident in her fourth year. One where Draco Malfoy used _Densaugeo _on her. Do you remember _that_, perchance?"

He blinked, "Vaguely. And what does something that happened five years ago have to do with me at this moment?"

"She told me you said you didn't notice any difference!" Dinah exclaimed, looking quite appalled.

Severus searched his mind for that instance and found himself smirking in recollection. Granger with her gigantic teeth extended the length of her neck. In all honesty, although it had been obvious they had grown, her overall image at the time had not changed much. He snorted and turned back to his newspaper, "I didn't."

He winced as Dinah smacked his shoulder, and had to look up at her again. He hadn't exactly expected that reaction. It had even hurt a little this time, though not much. She was glaring down at him, more appalled-looking than ever, "How dare you!" she demanded, tears filling her eyes.

Merlin, what had he done? "Dinah… what…?"

"How could you?" she whimpered, "How could you say something so cruel and so hurtful to another person when you know what that feels like? A personal remark like that? About someone's looks? Making fun of her teeth? And after everything you experienced?"

"Dinah. I didn't think-"

"No! No, you didn't think at all, did you?" she demanded, and then the tears were back. "That's… That's so _mean_, Severus! I mean, I know you like to call the students stupid and dunderheads and tell them that their school performance is worthless and I've accepted that but _no _more personal remarks, do you hear me? You _know _what that feels like, Severus!"

He could do nothing but stare at her. How had he done this? Made her cry again for something that he had done five years ago? And she was right, of course. Why was she always right about these things? "Dinah, I'm _sorry_. I suppose it _was _wrong, but we do not all have the same natural empathy that you have, to take that sort of thing into consideration."

"That's no excuse!" she snapped, the tears shifting again into anger. He honestly didn't know how he was supposed to get through four more months of this, especially if Granger started telling her more tales of his past offences. "Did you make her cry when you said that? Well, did you?" Dinah prodded.

Severus thought back on the incident. She had, in fact, burst into tears and run from the room. "Mm," he muttered acknowledgment, not meeting his wife's gaze.

"That's so mean," she sniffled. He _couldn't _look at her now. How did she manage to make him feel so ashamed of himself when no one else had ever been able to? Not even the headmaster. "Don't ever do anything like that again! I'm sick of this awful Slytherin revenge thing you have going here, Severus! People who were ever bullied are supposed to _not _become bullies later on. That's how it always happens! But you Slytherins…"

"Could we not make this a house thing?" he mumbled, trying to ignore the guilt she was making him feel. Perhaps he _had _been too cruel to the Granger girl in that specific instance. When he had been youthened and awkward again, Dinah had been the complete opposite of anything he had ever experienced. She had accepted him and told him he was fine just as he was. She had never made fun of him. Perhaps the only person in the world who hadn't…

"But it is a house thing! And I guess your upbringing had something to do with it too…" she trailed off.

"Hmph," he agreed, finally looking at her again. At least she wasn't crying anymore. She just looked angry again. He raised an eyebrow, "I'm surprised you didn't use my notorious middle name when you stormed in here."

He _really _had to learn to keep his mouth shut. Because now the tears were back. "Ugh!" she exclaimed, "No, Severus, no, don't you see? That's the _point _that I'm trying to make! Even if I'm furious with you I would never, _never _do such a thing! I mean, I… I'm not perfect. During our fight last week I called you a dungeon bat and a…" she bit her lip and swiped at her eyes, "horrible man but I was pregnant and angry and said things I didn't mean and… but… well, no matter _how _angry I was I would _never _call you a greasy git or… you know," she waved the last part off.

She never said Snivellus. Her lips seemed absolutely incapable of forming the word. Granted, if she ever did at some point in description or in anger he wouldn't really be bothered by it, but somehow he had the feeling that she never would. And he still wasn't sure how to properly express how grateful that made him. "I know," he felt his gaze soften, "I'm sorry. I promise I will make no further personal remarks."

"Good," she said, settling onto his lap and looping her arms around his neck. He put his newspaper down so that he could wrap his own arms around her waist. This was a far more pleasant position than the one he had previously been in. And at least this hadn't led to another huge fight. He had hated fighting with her. It had been one of the worst weeks of his life, but at least there had been no fear of her leaving him involved. Yes, he believed her promise wholeheartedly from the moment she had made it. She would never leave, and he knew that.

"Did you want dinner then?" he asked her.

"Sure," she nodded, seemingly emotionally stable once more. Thankfully. He loved her, but she was starting to act more and more like Lucy as this pregnancy went on and it was getting a little bit… challenging to deal with. "You know, an apology to Hermione would be nice."

He was a little stricken by her comment and was sure that it showed in his face. _Apologize _to the Granger girl for something he had done five years ago? Wasn't an apology to Dinah enough?

She laughed at his expression, tightening her grip on him, "All right, all right, I can see that you don't like the idea. And she _did _say she was over it now. But I _am _going to be working with the girl for the rest of the year at least, Severus. It would be nice if you could at least _try _to be polite."

He grimaced, "Fine. I shall attempt it." That was at least a better request than an apology, and clearly it had gained him some brownie points because she looked so happy at his comment, snuggling into his arms and pressing her face into his neck. He sighed and closed his eyes. This was heaven. How he had managed to reach this point was, again, mind-boggling to him. She wanted him. The most perfect woman in the world wanted _him _and only him.

Her perfect lips were now kissing his neck and his body responded accordingly.

A warm chuckle rumbled through her as she noticed; "Would you like me to take care of that?" she asked, her voice delectably teasing as her tongue trailed across his bare skin.

"Mmm, _yes_," he ground out as she reached down to touch him. He pulled her into his lap and she wiggled against him, offering him the tiniest bit of relief but it was not enough yet. He claimed her lips with his own, intent on getting this started properly. Soon he would have that relief that he needed. And he would probably be in such a pleasant mood afterwards that he _might _even apologize to the Granger girl.

But probably not.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

"Hey, Lucy," Hermione said, opening the door to her bedroom that evening.

"Shh," Sirius shushed her from his spot on the bed.

"She just fell asleep," Ginny explained, sitting in the only chair in the room.

Sirius waved his wand and produced a chair for Hermione, "Your meeting go well?" he said in hushed tones.

"Oh, yes. I'm glad I got the opportunity to do this. I considered teaching at one point but now I'm more interested in working in the Ministry," she sat down and reached into the bag she'd brought with her. "I brought this for Lucy. I thought she might like it if she hasn't read it all ready."

Sirius took the book from the girl and looked down at a worn copy of _Hogwarts: A History_. "Thanks. I'm sure…well I'm not sure she'll appreciate it. Probably at some point though."

"She's been snippy today," Ginny added.

"Well, being forced to stay in bed will probably do that. Plus, she's probably worried about the baby and maybe blaming herself for what happened. That's quite common for women to do," Hermione said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. He was kind of surprised Lucy and Hermione weren't constantly huddled up together reading. The two of them had a love of books he'd yet to see replicated in other people.

Ginny looked up from the papers she'd been attempting to grade, Lucy had promised to go over them later, and asked, "Are you going to the game night thing, Hermione? I thought I might but it sort of depends on if everything gets done with class."

Hermione nodded, "Yes. I _am_ Professor Sam – Professor Snape's apprentice after all."

Sirius looked between the girls. They had every right to go to the game night but…"Don't forget about Lucy and keep your ears open for any noise about the Board of Governors thing. Especially if it pertains to any articles Rita Skeeter might be writing."

"Oh, I will," Ginny assured him, "I want to talk to Dinah too. I thought we could plan that film night for Thursday. The first Hogsmeade weekend is this one coming up and Sirius was talking to me about getting a couple of Lucy's students to come talk to her for awhile so I thought maybe we could get Jania and Agrona to watch the movie with us. Of course that means we'll all have to squeeze onto the bed…"

"We could just use an Undetectable Extension Charm," Hermione offered.

Beside Sirius, Lucy shifted to roll onto her other side. "I'm sure she'll enjoy that, but I think it's time to go."

"All right," Ginny said, "Come on, Hermione, I'll show you where our room is if you haven't been there yet."

* * *

><p>Lucy rubbed her face into her pillow, trying to block out the sunlight. She didn't want to wake up. Waking up meant getting dressed and having to deal with problems she didn't want to think about. Of course there was something she could do about her most pressing problem. If she could get up and go to the bathroom maybe she could walk over to the table for some breakfast and from there walk to her classroom to sit at her desk and teach.<p>

She threw the covers back and kicked her feet around a bit, trying to get the blankets off of them. She was surprised Sirius didn't wake up but she gently sat herself up and sat there on the side of the bed, waiting. Lucy wanted out of bed, but she didn't want to do anything to harm the baby. She shifted a little more, getting in a better position to stand from, but an arm snaked around her middle, loosely holding her in place.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sirius asked, sounding like he'd been awake for awhile.

"The bathroom," she said, a little irritated. Did he have to know her every move? Didn't he trust her? Okay, so she'd had intentions of going out to the dining table, but that wasn't the point. "I _am _allowed to go to the bathroom, aren't I?"

"Hold on," he grunted, getting out of his side of the bed, "let me help you."

"I can go to the bathroom on my own! I'm not a child!"

"No, just carrying one," he commented, helping her to stand. "I don't have to go in and watch you, but I'd like to be close at hand if something happens."

He was being sensible and caring…and it was incredibly irritating. "Fine. Then can you at least get me something to wear today. I refuse to spend the rest of the week in pajamas just because I'm in bed!"

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded as they reached the bathroom door.

"I want the green one!" she called, leaving the door open in hopes of irritating him. Probably wouldn't work, but it made her feel better.

"You lent that to Dinah yesterday," he replied, calm as could be.

"Then the purple."

"Not the red?" It sounded like he was grinning.

"No!" she snarled, "Not the red." She supposed bed rest didn't include standing at the mirror and doing her hair, washing her face, putting on some make-up, and brushing her teeth but she did it anyway. It was something else that made her feel better.

The instant she came out of the bathroom, Sirius was next to her. He held out a fresh set of robes and carefully watched while she changed. It seemed the man knew better than to touch her while she trudged back to the bed and settled in for another day of boredom. She had to keep reminding herself this was all for the baby, but she kept forgetting to do that. Apparently her hormones preferred her irritated.

"You know," she said, "I wouldn't mind being stuck in bed so much if we could engage in certain, entertaining activities."

Sirius chuckled, going to the window to pay the owl delivering the _Daily Prophet_.

"What?" she asked, her hormones calming down a bit. She didn't feel like punching him in the face anyway.

"I think people usually expect the man to be the one annoyed about not having sex for a couple days."

"Well, excuse me," she rolled her eyes.

He chuckled again and came over to lightly kiss her lips. "It's fine. I'm sure by the end of the week I'll be extremely frustrated. Now, Dinah promised she'd come have breakfast with us. I suggest you try not to scare her away."

"Little comments like that aren't likely to improve my mood," she frowned.

A faint knock from the living room indicated Dinah's arrival.

"I'll be right back. Think about what you want for breakfast."

She thought about it for two seconds then ordered up some veggie omelets. It would probably shock both Dinah and Sirius to see her eating something without apples in it, but right now the vegetables sounded like heaven.

"Why don't you go ahead and sit on the bed, Dinah?" Sirius said as he led their friend into the room. "You'll be more comfortable there than in a chair."

"Sure," Dinah agreed, settling down onto the bed. Lucy noticed with annoyance that she was wearing the green-trimmed robes. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I think," she said, while Sirius conjured up a couple of bed trays for them to eat off of. "I've been getting _a lot_ of sleep and without the help of potions." Three veggie omelets appeared, along with apple juice and toast with apple jelly, as Lucy shrugged, "I kind of feel like I'm being held prisoner."

Dinah grimaced and nodded, "I'm sure it must feel that way. If there's something I can do to help, just let me know, but I can't really think of anything..."

"There isn't anything I suppose…" she said, pushing her food around her plate.

"Lucy," Sirius said, "A week isn't that bad really. Look, Hermione brought you _Hogwarts: A History_ to read."

Lucy shook her head, not taking the book he offered to her. "Thanks. If I could just have something to _do_. Ginny's doing most of the class work. I'm just double checking it for her really. I can only read for so many hours…and my hormones can't seem to settle on one emotion," she sniffed and put her fork down.

"Hmm, something to do, huh?" Dinah pondered, poking at her toast.

"Yeah," she said, sniffing and staring at Dinah's uneaten food. "Aren't you hungry? Why isn't Severus…He didn't want to come?"

"I didn't know you wanted him to come," Dinah said, "He'll come if I ask him."

"He doesn't have to. I don't want him to feel forced. Oh! Maybe I could sort some ingredients for him or something!" she suggested as Dora hopped up on the bed and started inspecting their breakfast. "Shoo," she said, "I'm still eating." To prove it she shoved a piece of toast into her mouth.

Dinah took a tiny bit of egg onto her fork without eating it and considered, "Well... I can ask him. I bet there's something you can do to that effect. As long as you don't sort by color this time," she teased.

Lucy giggled, feeling better at the prospect of the possibility of entertainment, "Only if he asks. But really, you should eat."

Dinah sighed, "I'm just not feeling it. I guess you should start timing me. What has it been, two minutes now that I haven't eaten yet?"

"Three," Sirius said, from his chair, "Of course Lucy's only eaten that bit of toast she didn't want the cat to have. Think I should start timing her too?"

"Oh," Lucy grumbled throwing a bit of sticky toast at her husband. "I'm eating just fine!"

"No, no, I'm the only one with this problem. Well, just let me know when five minutes have passed," Dinah requested Sirius.

Sirius kept watch on the time and after two more minutes told Dinah she had to take the stimulant. Breakfast continued on from that point and Lucy found herself entertained so that she didn't think too much about her situation. "So, you have to go now?" Lucy asked, thoroughly depressed at the thought of being left here all day again.

Dinah gave her an indulgent smile, "If I want to teach my classes, I do. I'll be by again at lunch, though. I'll bring Severus and make him give you some kind of 'assignment', okay?"

Some might find it weird but she was looking forward to getting homework from her old Potions master. "Okay. He doesn't actually have to come if he doesn't want to though," she said, picking at the seam of her comforter.

"He won't not want to," Dinah insisted.

"All right." It was silly how little things like people visiting were making her happy but she'd take what she could get. "Have a good morning," she waved.

"I'll walk you out," Sirius offered.

"Thank you. I'll see you at lunch and bring Severus," Dinah smiled, heading out of the room with Sirius.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Thanks for the review! To answer the question of the anonymous reviewer of Chapter 17, no the two women getting pregnant is not the sole plot of this story. The main conflict deals with the relationship between Lucy and her father (Henley) and how that impacts her life now. This is a slower plot and more of a character driven piece and I understand that it might not be to everyone's tastes. Still, I appreciate your interest in the story. As for the rest I think my co-writer, animalwriter, said it best, "the first story, Don't Leave Me, explains in greater detail why not everyone was reborn. They had to have a higher calling or reason to come back, and we decided that not all characters would necessarily have such a thing, plus it would be odd if everyone got revived". Thanks again for the review and I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have as best I can :)

* * *

><p>Chapter 30<p>

"Are they here yet?" Lucy asked, positively bouncing in the bed. Ginny and Hermione had informed her after last night's game night that they had planed to watch a film in her room with Dinah. Severus had come by with Dinah for lunch yesterday as promised and assigned her the task of sorting some of his new potion ingredients and doing away with the old, ineffective ones.

It had been entertaining, and she still hadn't finished the task, but watching this film was more exciting than the first time she'd seen the Muggle device.

Sirius just chuckled and shook his head, "No, they aren't here yet." He seemed pleased that she was so excited about this. It made her feel a little guilty about being so snippy with him lately, especially since he understood why she was acting that way.

"I hope they get here soon. Does the bed seem bigger than normal? I'm almost positive it is."

"It's the same size it's always been," he said, grinning like he knew something.

"Hello?" Ginny's voice called from the living room. Sirius had taken to leaving the front door unlocked the last few days since they were constantly in the bedroom. Poking her head into the bedroom she said, "We brought a couple surprises for you Lu. I hope you don't mind."

"Surprises?" Lucy asked. This was turning out to be quite the exciting day for her.

"Yes," said her favorite seventh year student, "Us."

"Agrona! Jania! It's wonderful to see you. Classes are going well?"

Jania giggled and came to stand next to the bed, Sirius discretely stepping out of the room. "Of course. Here," she said, holding out a thin book, "we brought you some crossword puzzles. It's not much but Agrona thought it'd give you something to do. How long are you going to be on bed rest? Can you come back to class? Miss Weasley's great and all but everyone's been so worried about you."

"Oh, that's so nice," she said, sniffing a little and taking the puzzle book. She set it on the bedside table before offering, "Climb up on the bed. I assume you're going to watch the film with us so you might as well get comfortable."

Jania and Agrona settled in at the foot of the bed. Agrona looked around and Jania exclaimed, "Wow! Your bed is huge. It didn't look this big from over there."

Hermione grinned, "Undetectable Extension Charm. We had Sirius…I mean Mr. Black put it on."

"We needed room for everybody coming and we wanted to be comfortable," Ginny reasoned, "Now we just have to wait for Dinah. She has the film and the telly after all."

A telly and TVD player preceded Dinah's arrival. "How're you doing tonight?" Dinah asked with Mae Yates in tow.

"Good," Lucy said, waving at the little second-year, "Madam Pomfrey was by this afternoon and said I look much better and she'll be by either Sunday or Monday to see about letting me have some more freedom."

"That's great! I hope you get that freedom. I brought Mae along, since Jania and Agrona were here, and I'm guilty of having Mae over to play karaoke from time to time anyway..." she blushed.

Mae giggled, "I bet Professor Snape's glad we're doing this this week instead."

Lucy grinned, "I can only imagine…what's carry-oaky? Have I done that?"

Jania sat up and turned to look at her, laughing, "Sorry, Professor. It's just funny sometimes…what wizards don't know about. Karaoke's kind of a singing game. A machine plays music and there's a telly that tells you what the words are and you sing the song. Isn't that right Professor Snape?"

"Yes, that's right," Dinah smiled. "We'll have to do it sometime, Lucy. I think you'd have fun with it. There are just so many different Muggle things to do I think I forget what all we have and haven't done."

"How do you know who wins?" Lucy asked, curious as ever about Muggle things.

"No one really _wins_," Mae said, climbing onto the bed next to Jania, "It's just fun to do."

"We didn't know where you'd want to sit," Hermione told Dinah, "So we thought we'd wait and just sit wherever there's room."

"That's fine," Dinah flicked her wand to settle her Muggle materials and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Agrona. "This is good. I brought a movie with a slight fantasy spin to it, one that I'm thinking of showing in my classes to illustrate how Muggles approach the idea of magic. I was thinking it would show some of the students that Muggles do have imaginations and can enjoy the idea of magic, although the stories they come up with surrounding it vary and are never quite correct. Thought I could pre-screen it over here and see what everyone thinks," she grinned.

"Wonderful," Lucy said, snuggling down into the bed while Ginny and Hermione found a place to sit. She hadn't been hungry at dinner, but now she reached into her basket of seemingly never-ending apple treats and pulled one out to munch on. "I promise to do my best not to fall asleep. I'm not really sleepy but that doesn't seem to matter when we watch films."

"I know, and it is ever so frustrating," Dinah teased her, using her remote control to turn on the electronic devices and get the film started up.

Everyone watched the film with extreme excitement. Lucy fell asleep for only about 10 minutes in the middle, but she hoped Dinah hadn't noticed. In the end they all decided it would be a good film to show the Muggle Studies class and Ginny and Hermione hurried the students back to their dorms before heading to their own room.

"I'm so glad we did this," Lucy said, yawning, "I hope you never have to be stuck on bed rest. I mean I want to do what's best for the baby. This just happens to suck."

Dinah nodded vigorously to express her agreement, "My appetite issues are enough. It's so hard to balance what you know is good for the baby with what you just _want_ to do, you know?"

"Yeah," Lucy agreed, "I hope I'm not being annoying, having you come over so much, but if I lay here staring at the ceiling much longer I'm going to insist we paint it."

"Oh, what color do you think would look good? Green? Red? Pink?" Dinah asked, sounding almost like she was being serious as she regarded the ceiling with a pleasantly curious expression; "Oh! How about chartreuse?"

"I was thinking more of a periwinkle myself," Lucy grinned.

"Oh, how about we paint it all of them?" Dinah suggested, standing from the bed, "It'll be quite lovely, I'm sure."

"It would be," Lucy agreed, "but I doubt it'll happen."

"Creating projects for me to do?" Sirius asked, coming into the room and plopping on the bed where Dinah had just been.

"Mmmm, yes," Lucy said, snuggling into him.

Sirius kissed her forehead and rubbed his hand over the baby, before turning to Dinah, "Your husband was by about a half an hour ago looking for you."

"Oh, perhaps he's a little impatient with me," Dinah grinned, levitating her Muggle objects together to get ready to leave. "I have a feeling he might come to more meals, Lucy. I think he misses me, plus he's going to want to keep an eye on your sorting. Remember, no mistakes can be made," she winked, repeating Severus's stern words from lunch.

Lucy giggled, "You'd think he didn't trust me…or know that I did well enough in my Potions to be an Auror. I'll see you tomorrow then." She didn't even try to get up this time, resigned to her fate.

"Would you like me to walk you out?" Sirius asked.

"I think I can manage, but thanks. You keep an eye on this one," Dinah grinned, pointing at Lucy, before exiting.

"Did you enjoy yourself tonight?" Sirius asked her after Dinah closed the door behind her.

"Yes, but…all those things I was worrying about before? They're still going to be there when I'm off of bed rest. They aren't just going to disappear."

"Let Minerva deal with them. She said she would. She knows all about what happened. She knows your father. She knows you. I doubt if she thought you shouldn't be teaching she'd still be employing you."

"She didn't want me teaching last year," Lucy mumbled.

"That was last year," he insisted, "there were different issues involved and I don't think it had anything to do with your sanity."

"No," Lucy said, thinking back to her first minor 'episode' of last year, "she just thought I wasn't ready."

"And Dumbledore thought you were. Take confidence from that. We'll take it one day at a time I guess. There isn't anything we can do about them investigating you so we might as well not worry about it."

She didn't respond, just shifted around so that her head rested on Sirius's chest and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Dinah sat trying to put together two new surveys that would address half-blood and pureblood wizards. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, but it was raining out and sort of miserable and she figured it was as good a time as any to try and get this started. She had also been a little depressed because the fluttering in her stomach seemed to be happening fewer and more far-between than normal, although Poppy assured her there was nothing wrong.<p>

Severus, ever happy to stay inside even on nice days, was working on lesson plans on the sofa accompanied by a positively ridiculous stack of thick old books. All in all, it was just a quiet day.

Until something kicked Dinah in the stomach.

She gasped and her hand wandered to her abdomen.

"What happened?" Severus was as attentive as always, looking up to make sure she was all right.

Dinah turned to her husband, trying to decide how to describe this sensation. Her first fear had been pre-term labor, like Lucy, but it hadn't really hurt and she wasn't really that stressed. It had been more like…

She felt it again, this time with her hand pressed to her abdomen, and she knew. It was like something was in there, and she could feel it… on the outside! "Severus!" she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.

"What?" Now he looked more curious, but still awaiting an answer.

"Come here! I felt it! On the outside! Our stubby mandrake! Kicking!"

He quickly put the book down. She was surprised at how fast he was moving, considering he was usually a little more indifferent about this sort of thing. But she knew he loved their stubby mandrake. "Where?" he asked, kneeling in front of her so they were at eye level.

"Here," she said gently, spreading her robes for better access and removing her hand, instead reaching over to grab his wrist and guide him to the same location; "Put your hand there. I hope it happens again. It just happened twice for me."

There was a little bit of silence and waiting, but then Dinah felt the sensation again and Severus's eyes went wide. His gaze shifted swiftly to her, but he didn't say anything. He just looked shocked. She laughed, "You feel it?"

"It's… real! It's actually in there… the picture… the stubby mandrake… right there…" he frowned turning back to her abdomen and moving both hands over it as though trying to make sense of this.

Dinah laughed again, feeling a wave of affection for him as joyful tears threatened. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, "Yes. It's real. It's in there. I continually think you know how these things work and you just keep surprising me," she teased.

He laughed, his head briefly falling against her chest before he lifted it and stood up a little, to better kiss her, still not removing his hands from her abdomen. She placed her own hand over his as he gazed into her eyes, and then it happened again. "Amazing…" he murmured, shaking his head. "I had no idea it would be that…"

"Magical?" she asked. That was the word she would use.

He smirked, "You are such a Muggle, Dinah. _Everything _is magical. I was hoping for a more unusual, meaningful word, though I can't for the life of me think of one."

She chuckled, resting her head on his shoulder and standing up so he could pull her more easily into his arms, "We don't need any words. We know what it feels like. I'm so glad you could feel it too this time."

"As am I," he whispered in her ear. "There's no going back. We're going to have a baby. I only hope that we can do this right…"

She smiled and lifted her head to meet his eyes, "Oh, Sev, stop worrying. You're going to be a _wonderful _father and nothing at all like yours."

"Well… I hope so…" he frowned, still looking a little uncertain.

Dinah shook her head, "Come now. Just look at what a wonderful person you are. Sure, you're snarky and strict and stubborn but you are so sweet to me and to the people you care about. A baby will be no different. And you are so good at teaching and at helping people. For heaven's sake look at how much you've helped Lucy this year."

"I'm not her father."

She laughed, "No. But you are a very good friend, and a very, _very _good man," her gaze softened, "That's all that matters."

His own eyes grew gentle as he regarded her and, slowly, he nodded, "Thank you. You bring out the best in me."

"Same here," she kissed him, "You bring out the best in me, too."

* * *

><p>"How are you feeling?" Poppy asked cheerfully as she came into the bedroom Monday evening. "No contractions I trust?"<p>

"Nope," Lucy shook her head and Sirius nodded in agreement, "not even the slightest twinge."

"All right," Poppy murmured waving her wand about, using her hands to feel Lucy's stomach, and doing any number of things before announcing, "I think we can try letting you off bed rest tomorrow."

"Really?" Lucy asked, sure she looked entirely too excited to get back to work. "Like I can go back to class and meals and game nights and things?"

"I don't see why not. I don't want you running around all day. You should be off your feet as much as possible. Don't be walking around the classroom and, of course, sex is still off limits."

"What?" This last was more crushing than only being allowed to walk as little as she possibly had to.

"That's…less than thrilling," Sirius commented.

"Well, there's nothing for it," Poppy shrugged, "I checked with the mediwitches at St. Mungo's and they all agreed, in a situation like this sex is the last thing you should be doing."

Lucy sighed. She didn't like it but there wasn't much she could do about it. "So I can go up to breakfast tomorrow? Surprise Dinah?"

"If you'd like, yes," Poppy nodded.

"Lucy, Dinah's going to come _here_ for breakfast. If we're not here you're going to worry her. She'll probably run up to the Hospital Wing."

"Oh, all right," Lucy pouted, "but we can have breakfast at the dinning table!"

Poppy chuckled, "Yes, I think that will be just fine."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"Can I answer the door?" Lucy asked the next morning, like a little kid at Christmas, "Do you think it'll be okay?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Sirius grinned, "Poppy did say you could walk around, just don't overdo it."

She squealed much like Dinah did when she saw something cute and bounced a little on the couch. Ah, a new room. She liked her bedroom well enough but couldn't fathom how pregnant women used to spend months in one room awaiting the birth of their child like she'd read about. Especially in the summer when they still lit the fires for fear of mother or child catching a chill.

"French toast? Or apple pancakes?" Sirius asked, preparing to order breakfast.

"Mmmm, French toast and apple juice," Lucy said, watching the door, "Oh, and orange juice. Dinah likes orange juice."

"No cherry syrup and soda?" Sirius grinned.

Lucy turned to look at him, matching his expression, "Well, you can get some if you want."

Soon there was a knock at the door, and Lucy pushed herself up off the couch, with only minimal help from Sirius, and went to answer it. "Hi!" she chirped, grinning at Dinah and Severus's stunned faces.

"Lucy!" Dinah shrieked, giving her a hug, "Poppy took off the restrictions?"

"Mmmhmm," she nodded, hugging her friend back.

"No," Sirius contradicted, "not completely."

"Oh, whatever. She let me get out of bed," Lucy stuck her tongue out at her husband. "I'm not allowed to do too much walking and still restricted in the bedroom," _that_ made her pout. "The longer I go without problems though the more I can do. Probably not running laps around Hogwarts or any sort of sexual activities which is annoying but doable."

"Ah. I see," Lucy couldn't be sure, but she almost imagined a look of smug satisfaction on Severus's face that he would be able to have sex when Sirius Black could not. The way Dinah was hiding a chuckle and looking at him made her even more suspicious.

"Well," Lucy said, backing up and trying to ignore her suspicions, "please come in. We're having French toast and…a variety of drinks apparently."

It seemed like the moment the Snapes were inside and the door closed, Dora trotted out to play with Severus's robes again.

An exaggerated sigh was followed by plucking the cat from the floor and handing her to Lucy, "I trust you are allowed to carry cats?"

"I think I can manage," she smiled, "Poppy didn't mention any weight restrictions but I'm sure Dora would make it through a ten pound one."

"Give her here. I'll put her in the bedroom," Sirius said, "Go on and sit down. We've got apple juice, orange juice, and just for Dinah, cherry syrup and soda."

"Wonderful! I'm not hungry at all but I'm very thirsty!" Dinah bounded over to the table as Severus frowned and looked at the clock, noting the time.

They all sat down at the table and after five minutes Dinah had downed three tall glasses of cherry syrup and soda but had not touched her food. Severus then produced the appetite stimulant and held it out to her.

"Aww, but it tastes awful," Dinah complained, pleading with him with her eyes, "And cherry syrup and soda has calories."

"Empty calories. I want you to eat food. Now take it," Severus paused a moment and then added, "Please."

Lucy tilted her head towards her friend, raising one eyebrow and grinning, "If I can lay in bed for a week _and_ give up sex for my child then you can take a nasty tasting stimulant."

"Well, I hardly think those sacrifices are the same," Sirius teased, "Yours is much harder. Especially as it involves your husband. I mean Severus doesn't have to take Dinah's stimulant every time she does."

"I wish he did have to," Dinah grumbled, taking the stimulant and imbibing it with a grimace. Afterwards, she began eating at a normal pace for awhile as she slowly sipped her fourth glass of the famous beverage. But then she began to shovel food into her mouth at an alarming pace.

"Oh no," Severus began, worry entering into his eyes. "Dinah. Dinah, stop. Don't!" he grabbed her wrists, keeping her from grabbing any more food.

"No! No!" she struggled, "I'm hungry! I'm starving! There's that bottomless hole again and if I don't eat I'm going to starve!" She had a sort of mad look in her eyes.

"No, Dinah!" Lucy said, starting to panic. She couldn't panic! It wasn't good for the baby. She quickly whipped out her wand and did the first thing that came to mind, "_Petrifcus Totalus_!" she shouted, causing Dinah to stiffen and stop moving all together.

Severus just stared at her, "That was... quick," he turned to Dinah, "I don't like to see her looking like that. Surely there is another option."

"Um, well…sorry. It was the first thing that came to mind," Lucy blushed.

"It does seem like you might have over reacted a bit, Lu," Sirius said.

Suddenly, Severus's steady gaze shifted and he turned to glare at Lucy, "You petrified my wife!"

"I'm sorry!" Lucy yelled, starting to cry.

Sirius turned to glare at his former enemy, "Now you've gone and upset mine!"

Severus rolled his eyes and turned to flick his wand at Dinah, muttering the countercurse that freed her from the spell. "Are you all right?" he murmured, smoothing her hair.

She blinked; "What just happened? I'm hungry!"

"You must not eat!" he ordered, ignoring the fact that Lucy was still crying in the background for the time being, "You are not really hungry. You are not starving. It's the psychological effects of the potion," he pressed his lips to hers in a ferocious kiss that he probably would not have used even in Lucy and Sirius's 'non-public' except in the most dire of circumstances. "There. Think about something else. Anything else."

"I... I can't!" Dinah whimpered, tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

"Oh, Merlin!" Severus sighed, hugging his wife to him and at the same time pinning her arms to her side so that she couldn't try to eat. He turned back to where Sirius was trying to calm Lucy down; "This is getting us nowhere. We need a solution."

"I had a solution," Lucy whined, "_You_ didn't like it."

"To be fair it didn't really _solve_ anything," Sirius said, apparently trying to be logical about this whole mess, "though it did stop her from eating."

"Eating!" Dinah moaned from where her face had been shoved into Severus's robes, "If I don't eat I'm going to die!"

Severus groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, "This will go on for an hour if we don't come up with something. Maybe I can try to adjust the potion, shorten its effects, but it will be difficult..."

"Well, we could get rid of the food," Lucy suggested, still sniffling, "but I'm not finished…"

"Then eat," Sirius said, "I'm sure Severus won't begrudge you your food. Besides I don't think the presence of food or it's absence is going to make much of a difference."

"It will not, I'm certain. If only I could just tweak the potion..." Severus frowned.

"Couldn't you make like a suppressant or something? You know, to reverse the effects of the stimulant," Lucy asked, blowing her nose.

Severus's eyes widened, "A suppressant...? Why didn't I think of that? All right. Hold on," he closed his eyes and pressed a finger to his forehead, apparently deep in thought, before opening them again and asking, "Do you have a parchment and quill I could use?"

"Yes, of course," Lucy said. She started to get up to get the items but Sirius beat her to it, handing the parchment and quill to Severus. "I guess that's why I'm a Ravenclaw," she said, grinning, "That and it allows me to point out you'll also need some ink."

Severus looked a little annoyed, "I assumed ink was understood when I asked for the parchment and quill."

"Probably," Lucy shrugged, "but look at who brought it to you. Would you go get him some ink?" she asked her husband who dutifully carried out the request.

"I'm hungry!" Dinah whined. "I'm sorry. I can't help it."

"It isn't your fault. Lucy. Chewing gum. My temporary solution," Severus ordered her, although Dinah looked a little doubtful.

Lucy waved her wand, this time to call some chewing gum to her. "Here you are," she said, handing it to Severus.

"Thank you," he said, amiable enough, and handed a stick to Dinah, "Try it before you shake your head no at me. It's better than nothing, isn't it?"

"I guess so..." she sighed and took it from him, but her eyes were on the real food.

Severus adjusted so he was only holding her back with one arm and used the other to make the quill write a list of ingredients on the parchment. He ripped it in half and one half floated over to Lucy; "Find those. You should already have them and I trust you know what is what, since you are the one who catalogued them. Sirius..." he grimaced, "If you think you are capable the remainder on the list can be found in the dungeons. Either you go and attempt to find them - they are all labeled accordingly so I can only hope it will not be too difficult for you to locate them and bring them back here. I suggest a summoning charm, reading from the list, rather than looking by yourself. Either that or you attempt to restrain my wife while I get them myself." He didn't look like either idea pleased him.

"I'll go," Sirius said, "Dinah's libel to chew my arm off."

Lucy got up and headed to the bedroom, where she was keeping the ingredients in her nightstand drawer. When the door opened Dora streaked out and started winding her herself around Severus and Dinah's legs. "Sorry," she called and she sat on the floor to go through the tray of various herbs and things. As she found the items on the list, Lucy sat the containers on the bedside table. When she was done, she replaced the tray in the drawer and levered herself on to all fours before discovering a slight problem… "Um, help?"

"What _now_?" Severus growled, standing from the table where Lucy could see him through the crack in her door. He made some motion with his wand and everything vanished from the table but a bowl of porridge, which he seemed to allow Dinah to go at, since that was all there was. He hurried into the room, "_What_?"

"I can't get up," she said, feeling her lower lip start to quiver. When had she lost the ability to get up off the floor on her own? She'd tried, but she couldn't maneuver her leg into the right position and she couldn't bend far enough to push herself up from a seated position. "I'm too fat!"

"You are _pregnant_, there is a difference!" Severus snapped impatiently, extending a hand for her.

"I _know_ I'm pregnant," she snapped back, "I was there when it happened." Lucy reached out and grabbed Severus's hand, allowing him to help her up off the floor. "Thank you," she nodded, "I hope you won't mind if I summon some of that food back?"

"It was simply a temporary vanishing spell. Use _Finite Incantatem_," he said, heading back into the dining room where Dinah was going through cupboards looking for food. She had just found and grabbed an apple when Severus wrenched it from her grasp.

Lucy gathered up the items from the nightstand and brought them out into the front room, frowning at Dinah, "Now I know you're not in your right mind and I'm not _really_ offended but you're stealing my apples!"

"Here we are!" Sirius announced, coming into the room carrying various items.

"Hm," Severus muttered, going through the ingredients after having ordered Sirius to place them onto the dining table, "I would have preferred the fresher batch of this but I suppose if it was the best you could do," he uncorked a bottle of brown liquid and poured it into the small cauldron Sirius had also brought up, using_ Incendio_ to light a fire underneath. "Lucy. The fiber extract please. Insert exactly one teaspoon while I stir. No more. No less."

"You're going to let me help?" Lucy asked, going back into weepy mode.

"Well, he certainly wouldn't let me," Sirius smirked, "I couldn't even manage to bring him the right batch. You'd think he didn't know I did well enough in Potions during our school days."

"I apologize, but I saw nothing more or less than you slacking off in potions while we were in school," Severus smirked. "Lucy, if you cry in the potion Dinah might grow an extra mouth. Save the gratitude for after we are finished and _please_ insert the fiber extract."

"O-okay," she sniffed, carefully measuring out the fiber extract. Taking a moment to pour it into the cauldron and making sure to get every bit of the teaspoon into the potion.

"You can use magic to guarantee you get the correct amount if you recall from lessons," Severus reminded her, muttering the spell in concern. "Remember that for next time and it will be much easier. All right, turn clockwise instead of anti-clockwise..." he frowned down at the brown potion and turned his stirring hand - his left hand - in the indicated direction for a count of ten before looking up at Lucy, "Now the dry vinegar. Three drops, timed five seconds apart."

"Yes, of course," she said, counting out the seconds between the drops. "Sirius, will you make sure Dinah doesn't steal any more of my apples?" As her husband went to take care of her starving friend, Lucy turned to smile up at Severus, "You know it used to make me nervous when you'd look over my shoulder in Potions class too. It's probably why I didn't do as well as I could have."

"That is exactly why I look over everyone's shoulder in potions," Severus said, as the potion turned a bright green and he stopped stirring altogether, instead looking up at the clock and noting the time. "One must be able to work under all kinds of pressure and control their emotions accordingly for adequate concentration. You were, however, not a bad student."

She felt her smile grow a bit, "Thanks. I know the last couple years haven't exactly showcased it but I _can_ control my emotions. Oh, is it supposed to be that blue?"

"Yes," he smirked, but there was almost a smile in it as he looked down at the potion. In a few seconds he looked back up at the clock and said, "One minute is up. Now, of all things, pomegranate juice..." This continued for a few more minutes, with more and more complex ingredient adding and stirring, until Severus nodded, satisfied, at a deep brown, sort of viscous and slightly lumpy concoction. It didn't look appetizing at all. He filled a small vial and beckoned for Sirius to bring Dinah over.

Sirius had his arms wrapped around Dinah's arms, keeping her from grabbing food. It was a rather funny sight and Lucy giggled from the chair she'd sat in about halfway through the potion making. "I hope this one tastes better, Dinah."

"It _should_, actually, taste much better," Severus said, holding the vial out to his wife.

Dinah, however, didn't look like she cared how it tasted either way, as she snatched in from him and downed it in one gulp. Licking her lips afterwards, she paused to consider, and the wild, starving look left her eyes, "It does taste good. Like strawberries! Honestly, Severus, the appetite stimulant tastes bad but the suppressant tastes good?"

He smirked, "The important thing is that it seems to have done it's job."

"Oh! You're right," Dinah said, nodding, and then turned sad eyes to her husband, "I'm sorry..."

"You weren't to blame," he insisted, kissing her cheek.

Dinah's eyes seemed to show more gratitude than Lucy would normally expect at her husband's words as she hugged his waist, "I don't like this. I hate not being in control of my reactions. I'm sorry if I bothered you all. But I think this suppressant is going to be a wonderful addition to my pregnancy repertoire," she grimaced a little.

Severus smiled, his arms around her, "I'm only sorry I did not think of it sooner," he turned to Lucy, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, blushing. She glanced at the clock, getting a little nervous now. She hadn't been paying attention to the actual time before. "I'm sorry. You're both welcome to stay but Ginny's going to be coming over during my break to go over what's been going on in my classes, just to warn you."

"No, that's fine. I have class and we should probably head back to the dungeons and make sure Dinah is fine from her experience."

Dinah nodded, "I'll have to try to remember how much I actually ate. Sorry about our little mini adventure there, Lucy. Oh, and," she blushed, "Would you mind not using the full body-bind curse on me anymore? That was a little weird. I know I did say a while ago that you could do it as a last resort, but I don't know that I really meant it…"

Lucy giggled, "I'll do my best. I _am_ sorry. It was the first thing I thought of…and don't worry about the 'adventure', no harm came of it. Other than discovering I'm too fat to get up off the floor on my own now."

Severus just rolled his eyes at that before he and his wife left for the morning.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

By the time Lucy's final class of the day, her second years, came about word had gotten around about her being back to teaching. Of course her reappearance at lunch helped speed the news. Snuffles had insisted on accompanying her to all her classes, even though Ginny was there as well and barked every time she tried to get out of her seat.

She smiled to herself when the students made their way in and Porter Lee winced when he spotted the 'attack dog'.

"Professor Black!" Mae shouted, running right up to the desk, dragging Andrew with her. "It's so nice to have you back teaching! Not that Miss Weasley wasn't good…oh! And you brought Mr. Black's dog. What was his name again?"

"Snuffles," Lucy told her.

"Can…can I pet him? I always wanted t a dog, but my brother's allergic."

"Of course," she said, motioning the dog over from where he'd been laying in the corner.

"I don't know Mae," Andrew said with a sneeze, "He's awfully big."

"He's nice Andrew," Mae insisted, "You wouldn't even notice he's here if he wasn't so big."

When Snuffles ambled over to rest his head on Lucy's shrinking lap, Mae reached out her hand to scratch behind his years. The dog closed his eyes and made a groaning sound, making Lucy giggle. Mae, however, frowned, "Professor? Where was Snuffles when we came over for the film?"

"Oh, well…" Lucy frowned. She should have thought about that, but really she hadn't expected to have students over to her rooms. "We'd let him out for a run. He's a big guy and he needs to burn off his energy. We let him out and he'll just run for miles. He always comes back though," she said, smiling and rubbing his neck.

"Oh, I see!" that explanation seemed to satisfy Mae, who scratched Snuffles once more before heading to her seat with Andrew.

Lucy smiled and leaned down as best she could to Snuffles's ear, "We need to talk about that later," she murmured and let go of her husband, allowing him to go back to his corner and lay down.

"Okay," she said, turning to the class, "As I'm sure you already know, I'm back to teaching. Both the baby and I are doing fine. However, we need to take it easy and I'm counting on you all to be well behaved. As you can see, Snuffles has come with me today and as Miss Yates demonstrated he's a gentle giant."

With the help of Ginny her final class of the day went off without a hitch.

* * *

><p>"I think you should register," Lucy said as they re-entered their rooms after dinner. "It's the most logical solution. Someone's bound to notice that you and Snuffles are never seen together. Mae's already asking questions."<p>

"I don't want to register. You know that," Sirius said, looking annoyed.

"You can't stay unregistered forever! What about when the baby comes? What if someone reports you? You're putting everything at risk for an extra bit of freedom," she said, feeling like she might cry.

"Yes, and I thought you understood that," he growled.

"I do!" the tears started flowing. If not for the pregnancy hormones she might have been more aggressive instead of weepy. "I'm willing to register, especially now that I've found out Remus is the one registering potential animagi, but I'm pregnant so I _can't_ do that!"

"There's got to be a better solution than registering! Maybe someday but not now!"

"That's…I just…excuse me," she said, turning and leaving the rooms. She hurried down to the dungeons, eager to get away. She was standing in front of Severus's office door before she knew how she got there. She knocked, hoping for some sort of sanctuary inside.

The door opened to reveal Dinah. When she saw Lucy crying her face became concerned, "What happened?"

"I…and…he…it…then…" she couldn't seem to complete full sentences and she was starting to be forcibly reminded of when she'd been taken to the Hospital Wing. "Can I…come in?" she managed to choke out.

"Please! Come in!" Dinah was starting to sound very worried, put an arm around her and led her inside.

When Severus saw them he stood from the dining table and demanded, "What _now_?"

Lucy managed to register Dinah giving her husband a sad look and saying, "Be nice. Obviously something has happened. Lucy," she helped Lucy sit next to her on the green couch, "Tell me what happened. And please try to calm down. You don't want to hurt the baby."

"I'm trying," Lucy said, sniffling and taking a few moments to concentrate on breathing. "Snuffles was in class today," she said when she'd calmed down a bit, "and Mae asked where he was when we watched that film together…I made something up, but I just tried to talk to him about registering because someone's bound to notice Snuffles and Sirius are never seen together…"

"That sounds reasonable," Dinah said, nodding, "Especially with children on the way. Sirius didn't like the idea?"

Severus snorted, "Of course he didn't. Even in adulthood he continues to enjoy rule breaking and thinks that his freedom is more important than the welfare of others, apparently including his unborn child."

Dinah's jaw set and she turned to Lucy, "Is that what it's like? I don't want Severus to be exaggerating. He does tend to do that you know," she ignored her husband's second snort.

"I don't know," she whispered. She had calmed down but she couldn't seem to stop the tears from flowing down her face and used her sleeve to wipe at them. "He said maybe someday but not now. I asked him if he was willing to put everything at risk for a little bit of freedom. He said yes. And that he thought I understood that," she shrugged, "Maybe I do. I don't know, but he said yes and all I could hear was my father telling me how worthless and unlovable I am and I couldn't stay." The tears that had been slowing started coming faster again.

Severus growled and marched over to them, "Can I use _Sectumsempra_ on him _now_?"

Dinah bit her lip and shook her head at him, but looked quite angry herself; "No. That won't help. But we _can_ go up and talk to him. I have a feeling he just isn't thinking this through. It's probably time that he did so. But it's up to you, Lucy," she said kindly, squeezing her shoulders, "Do you want us to try and talk to him or do you want to wait a little longer or do it yourself?"

"Lucy!" Sirius said, just striding into the Snapes' rooms, "Thank Merlin I found you. I went to Ginny and Hermione's room to see if you were there, then the library, then down here. The whole time I'm having visions of finding you crumpled up on the floor in labor. You _can't_ just run out on me like that."

Severus snorted, "Oh, you care about her _now_, do you?"

"Stop it," Dinah chided, "Lucy, what do you want to do?"

She covered her face with her hands, not wanting to deal with this, but, as Severus said, she had to stop letting her father affect her life at some point. It was her choice. She lowered her hands and looked at her husband, who appeared rather stricken, "You said you were willing to risk everything for some freedom. You know that includes me and the baby? If I had to choose between not registering and you, I'd pick you. Every time. Every day I have to make a choice, my fox or my baby. I choose my baby. It's not really much of a choice. So am I not enough? I didn't mean you had to register right now, or even tomorrow. I just wanted you to think, seriously think, about doing it soon."

Sirius's face got an almost sad expression on it and he murmured, "Lucy," taking two steps forward before Severus blocked his path. "Get out of my way," he growled.

Severus just stood there for a moment, and seemed to be staring rather intently at Sirius. Finally, he stepped to the side and bit out a; "Fine."

He stepped past his former, and seemingly current, enemy, coming to kneel in front of where Lucy and Dinah sat on the couch. He didn't touch her, seemed unsure if he'd be allowed to do so, and looked up at what had to be her tearstained face.

"You know," Dinah murmured, "Small children will start to say things. They'll say 'Dada doggie' or some such. You won't be able to hide it then. I know you say you love your freedom, but do you want to be free but alone? And if you get caught in the future as an unregistered animagus, you definitely won't be free. And you won't be with your wife or child either."

"I know," he whispered, nodding. Lucy wondered what Severus would say if he could see the couple tears Sirius had shed at Dinah's words.

She reached out with her sleeve to wipe them away, "I know being shut up in Grimmauld Place wasn't easy. I hated leaving and reminding you of all the things you couldn't do and I know if it wasn't for being unregistered you'd probably still be in Azkaban, but what happens in two, three years, when someone realizes you never see Mr. Black's dog with Mr. Black? Your animagus is like the world's worst kept secret, you know? The whole Order knew. Fred, George, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione…Dinah. Everyone knows. It's just not official really."

"You walked out and I took a minute to stop and think. Then I realized _why_ you got so upset. Lucy, you listen to me and listen good. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you," he insisted, finally reaching out and putting his hands on her thighs, not quite touching their child.

A smile played at the corners of Lucy's mouth, "I know," she said, cupping his cheek. "I would have stunned him before I let Severus use _Sectumsempra_ on you."

Sirius frowned and Lucy realized he hadn't been there when Severus had made that threat.

Lucy turned to Dinah and saw a small smile on her face, "I'm sorry for running down here and barging in like I did. I hope I didn't interrupt…or ruin anything."

Dinah shook her head, "You were fine. I'm glad everything got sorted out."

Severus sighed, absently running a hand through his hair and wandering cautiously closer, "We were simply sitting at the table conversing. And how could you possibly ruin anything? I apologize if I overreacted."

Sirius shook his head, "It's okay. I probably deserved it."

Severus gave a slight nod, "Your priorities are in order." That might have been the closest he ever got to actually _complimenting_ Sirius.

Sirius looked up at Lucy again and she was surprised at the lack of confidence in his expression. "Are you coming home tonight?"

Lucy scrubbed at her face one last time. "If you'll have me," she said as he stood up.

"Always. But," he said, before she could stand, "I don't think you should climb all those stairs again."

"But how…?" She hadn't finished her question when Sirius scooped her up, much like he had at Dinah and Severus's wedding. "Oh, put me down. I'm heavy!"

"Nothing a simple Featherweight Charm can't fix if one of the Snapes would be so obliging."

"I'll let my angry husband redeem himself," Dinah said with a grin, folding her arms to indicate that she would not be the one performing the charm.

Severus sighed and rolled his eyes, flicking his wand in their direction. He did not mutter any incantation, but Sirius suddenly looked like he was straining less to hold her.

"I'm not going to blow away now am I?" Lucy teased.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sirius muttered, giving her a quick peck on the lips and walking out of the Snapes' room and back to their own.

* * *

><p>"So, he's going to seriously consider registering," Lucy told Dinah as they ate lunch together in her office. They'd wanted to eat alone so they could have a chance to talk but Lucy's rooms had been out since Sirius was there and Dinah didn't want Lucy rushing back up the stairs from the dungeons to her class.<p>

"That's good," Dinah smiled, eating her sandwich at a surprisingly normal pace. "I'm glad you worked it out, and he's still got time before he needs to rush out. But having it as a plan is a great start."

"Yeah," Lucy nodded, ripping a piece of meat off her sandwich and eating it. "Plus, I think it helps that we know someone in that department. He can…fudge on the details a little bit so he still has his freedom. I understand where he's coming from though. I don't relish telling everyone about my fox, but it has to be done. I can't yell about Rita using illegal means to get material for her stories if I'm more or less doing the same thing."

"Yeah, but Rita's vindictive and selfish. You two are different from that," Dinah said, and then winced, looking down at her abdomen, "Now's not the time, you know? I'm eating!"

Lucy frowned, "Is something wrong? Do you feel sick?"

Dinah looked confused at first and then laughed, "Oh! I didn't tell you yet! I'm so sorry about that! I guess with first my appetite issue and then yours and Sirius's little confrontation I totally forgot. I'm feeling the baby now. It's usually pretty calm but kicks sometimes. Do you want to feel?" she offered, scooting her chair back a little.

"Can I? Really?" she asked, scooting her own chair back so that she could stand and go around the desk. She hadn't felt anything herself yet, except for those twinges, but she didn't want to feel _those_ again.

"Sure. If it cooperates," Dinah said, flattening her inner robes against her belly and feeling around a bit, "Right there is usually where it happens," she removed her hand.

Lucy stuck her hand on the spot Dinah had indicated and waited. It didn't take long for her to feel a rather good kick against her hand. "Ouch!" she exaggerated, "Dinah, your insides must be black and blue."

Dinah giggled, "I hope not. It doesn't really hurt. You should be feeling your own kicks soon I would imagine. Did you feel the fluttering at all? It felt like butterflies a few weeks ago, I guess before it got strong enough to do what it just did."

Lucy shook her head, removing her hand from Dinah's stomach and rubbing it over her own, "No, nothing. I suppose I should be…"

"Oh, I don't know, I don't think everybody does," Dinah was quick to shake her head. "I was just curious since that's what I noticed myself."

"Oh, okay," Lucy said, less worried now, "I have an appointment with Poppy this weekend. I'll ask her about it then." She sat down on her couch and started laughing, even more so when Dinah looked at her funny. "You know, you should ask Sirius if he wants to feel. It'll be hilarious."

She laughed, "It might be, but I don't know..."

"Oh, no, he won't do it. That's why it'll be funny. Tonks asked him the last time we saw them before she had Anne. He couldn't get away fast enough."

"Is he scared of babies?" Dinah giggled. "Severus is more... 'fine, if you insist, I'll touch it' and then he starts asking questions making me wonder if he knows about the birds and the bees at all."

Lucy grinned, "I have no idea really. I mean he _wants_ kids and he definitely knows about the birds and the bees…I think he's just never really been around babies or pregnant women much. Other than Lily and Harry that is."

"He must have helped a lot with Harry, though, I would imagine. I mean, he was their best friend."

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, maybe it was just because Tonks's his cousin or something. I'm not really sure, but I found it amusing."

Dinah grinned, "Well, maybe if it happens again when he's around I can make a big fuss over it and we'll see what he says."

"That sounds like a plan to me. Everything's going to change soon," she murmured, again running her hand over her child, but thinking of how the two other wizarding schools would soon be arriving.

"That's usually what happens when a child is born," Dinah smiled, misinterpreting her statement.

"Well, yes," Lucy giggled, "but I meant Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are going to be arriving soon."

"Oh!" Dinah laughed, "Right. Now _that_ will be a very interesting bunch of changes."

"Mmm," Lucy nodded, "I wonder how Durmstrang will be considering their involvement with Grindelwald and Karkaroff."

"Grindelwald is fine," Dinah said, looking a little reminiscent. She and Severus had actually known the man personally as their infamous 'test subject' from last year, and had grown to have an affection for him, though the same could not be said for his accomplice Eugene, at least on Severus's end. "And there's a new headmaster. Eugene says he knows him though, so that should help," Dinah said of the man in concern.

"I hope everything goes well for them. Durmstrang doesn't deserve to be mistrusted because of a couple 'bad'," she made air quotes with her fingers, "wizards anymore than Hogwarts does because of Voldemort."

"You are _so_ right," Dinah agreed with the emphasis and passion of the idealistic Hufflepuff that she was.

"Well," Lucy said, nodding her agreement, "I should probably go get ready for my first years. Hopefully the baby kicks more for you."

"Hopefully _not_," Dinah chuckled. "It's annoying when you're trying to eat."

Lucy giggled, gathering her things, "Probably. Feel free to stay as long as you like," she offered, before heading out to her classroom.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

"So twenty weeks?" Poppy asked, coming into living room. The healer had informed them she would be coming down for Lucy's appointments for at least the next few weeks. "Do you feel halfway done?"

"Not really," Lucy said, "More like a strange combination of just starting and having been pregnant forever."

"Mmm," Poppy murmured, coming around to sit on the coffee table in front of Lucy. "Have you felt the baby move at all yet?"

"No," Lucy shook her head, "Should I be? Dinah's feeling some. She even let me feel."

"Every woman and every pregnancy is different. Dinah's a few weeks ahead of you as well. It's entirely possible you've felt movement any not even realized it. Some women think it feels like butterflies, others say hunger pangs. It all depends on the individual."

Sirius shuddered in his chair, "I do not understand people's fascination with touching pregnant bellies, especially when you can feel something moving around in there."

Poppy actually smiled at Sirius, somewhat indulgently, "It's different when it's your own. You don't have a problem touching Lucy do you?"

"Well, no but…"

"You'll see. It'll happen to the both of you eventually. The baby moving that is."

Sirius looked a little skeptical but didn't say anything else.

"Do you think it'll be okay for me to go to the game night this week?" Lucy asked, scratching Dora's head. Her cat had been acting very strange lately, at turns being more cuddly than usual or stand-offish.

"As long as you continue to take it easy and feel able to I don't see a problem."

"Wonderful! I've been promising to help Dinah with them and I was having a mood swing or something during the first one and didn't go to the second."

"Then you should go to this one," Madam Pomfrey encouraged, "It'll be the last one before the students from the other schools come."

Poppy preformed a few more procedures, pronouncing Lucy to be back in good health. "If you still don't feel the baby move in the next month let me know and I'll have to call a healer from St. Mungo's to do a more in-depth scan."

"All right," Lucy promised, "Have a good night."

* * *

><p>Lucy shifted Dora around and waved at Agrona and Derwent as they arrived for Dinah's game night. "I don't know," she said, continuing the conversation they'd been having about her cat, "she's been acting kind of strange and look," Lucy held Dora up so Dinah could see, "I think she's getting fat."<p>

Dinah's eyebrows both raised at once, "You don't think...?"

"Oh, I think it's entirely possible. I mean we already know they've been…curious about each other and tend to disappear together. Severus came up with that protection spell for them but we never remember to use it so it was bound to happen sooner or later. He's going to be _really_ annoyed isn't he?"

Dinah shrugged, "Maybe slightly annoyed, but as long as I don't beg to keep a kitten - or more than one kitten," she added with a wicked grin, "it should be fine. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There's a veterinarian in Diagon Alley, isn't there? You could go this weekend."

"Oh! I think you're right. I'll have to check it out and see, but I can't go this weekend. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are coming and then the Halloween feast is Sunday. I'm guessing those Muggle tests don't work on cats?" Lucy grinned.

"Probably not," her friend giggled.

"Oh, dear," Lucy murmured, watching Septimus Peaks drag Tad Smyth over to sit with Septimus's secret girlfriend, Melinda Dehoff, and Helen Ostensen.

Jania came marching up to Dinah, "Professor? Do you see that? Septimus just came over and dragged Tad to that table! He was going to come sit with me and Amelia, maybe bring Reggie with him!"

"Um... well... the point of these games is that you sit with different people, but..." Dinah began, looking a little bit flustered.

"Well," Jania frowned, "okay, but I don't think he _wanted_ to go with Septimus."

"We'll keep an eye on them," Lucy assured her, "who knows, maybe it will be good for both Tad and Septimus to be sitting together."

"I hope so," Dinah agreed, seeming a little nervous. She began the game night strongly, though, informing the students that the nights would continue even after the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students arrived, adding one seat to each table for a student from each school, to encourage more association and hopefully help out with the morale of the tournament. Lucy had a feeling, though, that Dinah lacked confidence in these game nights, and was worried that they would not work out or would not last long.

All in all, Lucy didn't think the night had gone bad. Septimus hadn't done anything too disruptive and Tad had seemed to enjoy himself despite Jania's reservations. After a few more sessions she was sure everything would go perfectly fine, even if Dinah didn't believe it herself.

* * *

><p>"Oh, <em>Seeveruuuuuuuus<em>," Dinah poked her head into her rooms after the activities were finished, choosing to mask her nervousness about the game nights' progress by addressing a much more enjoyable subject.

Her husband smirked and raised a suspicious eyebrow as she stealthily approached him, "And what is this tone you choose to speak my name in this evening? I do not trust it."

Grinning, she latched onto his arm, "You're an observant one, aren't you? I would like to address the subject of kittens!"

"Kittens?" he looked the tiniest bit stricken, "Aren't babies enough? What _about _kittens?"

"Lucy thinks that Dora might be pregnant. If she is, I want one."

"One kitten?"

"Or two," she decided to mess with him a little.

"No! Two is _absolutely _out of the question!" he declared, and Dinah couldn't help but laugh. "One kitten… is nearly out of the question, but perhaps we can consider it if the cat is indeed expecting. I thought I gave you a protection charm for that," another raised eyebrow.

"You did, but I am a victim of absentmindedness, especially when I'm pregnant and having a fight with my husband and at Lucy's more to block out the world with films than to actually pay attention to what my cat is doing."

"Are you trying to _guilt _me into getting you a kitten?" he asked, now looking a little uncertain.

She smiled, "No, darling. I'm just trying to explain why Dora might be pregnant and when it is most likely that she _became _pregnant. If you recall, I was quite insistent that the cat stay with me."

"Quite," he smirked. "Yet you did not take the snake. I am sure I was much less entertaining to him during that week than you would have been."

Dinah chuckled, "I talked to him on the couch sometimes. Besides, I still shouldn't really be carrying him around the halls and I don't know if that would have made Lucy comfortable. Honestly, I think my behavior that week made him nervous anyway. You know, snakes can't really comprehend the concept of arguing with one's permanent mate. Apparently it serves no natural purpose and is quite a hindrance to propagating the species."

"I don't think we have to worry about propagating anything."

Dinah grinned, "So your final word is that we will 'consider' it, huh?"

"That is my final word," he nodded stiffly, "However, I continually find that my final word doesn't hold much power in our relationship. Consequently, I'm sure you will convince me to adopt a kitten if Dora has one, and I will be unable to argue. Thus…"

She burst out laughing, "Oh, Sev! You are _so _funny! Okay, I'll just assume we're going to have a kitten then, if you're going to put it that way." She loved it when he tried to frame things logically and came out with such convoluted cuteness. Unintentionally, of course. "And you may or may not hypothetically enjoy spending time with me possibly, right?" she teased.

Finally, she managed to make him laugh, "Oh no, I can now unequivocally say that I _do _enjoy spending time with you, my love. A kitten, though…"

"Don't worry," Dinah smiled, kissing him, "If you can manage to call Lucy's cat by her name then I think you just might be ready for a kitten."

He flushed, "I did that, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did."

"Oh well," he heaved a sigh, "How did your game night go?"

"Ah, well…" she bit her lip, her thought's drifting back to where she had been trying to steer them away from. "Okay. Same as the other two times…"

"You were hoping for more obvious improvement," he said. It was not a question.

"Yeah, I guess."

"It _will _improve," he assured, considering her worried face with a frown, "You have to give it time. You know how long it can take people to respond to your ideals. Perhaps that is not the best thing but there it is. A known fact. That doesn't mean that they won't respond, only that it could take a while."

"But is 'a while' enough time?" she murmured, casting her gaze to the floor. She was scared. She didn't want these to get cancelled as she had such high hopes for them. But…

"Dinah," warm fingers tilted her chin up so that she could meet the dark brown gaze of her husband, "Listen to me. Minerva will _not _cancel the game nights any more than she will sack Lucy for her stay in St. Mungo's. You will _have _the time that you need and the students _will _respond to you. You have helped so many people, including those who resisted you much more strongly than any of these students will. I include myself in that group of resistant individuals."

She felt her lips twitch up a little, "And Tommy?"

"Especially Tommy. If you can get Lord Voldemort to show remorse then you can certainly run a successful game night. Just _look _at all the things you've done already. You are an _angel_, Dinah. And more importantly, you are my wife and you are you and you are capable of anything. Everyone knows that."

Dinah's smile widened and she threw her arms around him, resting her head against his shoulder as his own arms wrapped around her and held her, his chin resting on the top of her head and his dark curtains of hair mingling with hers. He could always make her feel so good and so confident. Her worries melted away when she was near him and left her instead brimming with confidence. She _could _do this game night thing and she could do it right. She didn't mind people going on about her idealism like she used to, as long as Severus was there, loving her for who she was just because that's who she was, no more and no less.

She was convinced she was the luckiest woman alive.

* * *

><p>"So," Lucy said, to Dinah as the entire school stood outside awaiting the arrival of Durmstrang and Beauxbons, "I contacted the vet in Diagon Alley and he put me in touch with a vet here in Hogsmeade. As it turns out we are expecting kittens, which the assistant thought was hilarious considering I told the vet not only was I pregnant, but so was the owner of the father."<p>

Dinah laughed, "It is pretty hilarious. Did you hear that, Sev?" she tugged on her husband's arm, "We're having kittens."

Severus managed a rather dramatic eye roll despite the normally stoic face he had put on to await the other school's arrivals.

"Hey now, don't roll your eyes. If it hadn't been for Godric, Dora wouldn't be in her present state," Lucy teased.

"Think of it as practice. You'll have a kitten before you have a baby in all probability," Sirius said from where he stood behind Lucy.

Severus just smirked and Dinah laughed, "It'll be fun, you'll see," her gaze skimmed the grounds, "My Hagrid is rather…dressed up, isn't he?" The Care of Magical Creatures professor had his hair pulled back in a neatly-combed ponytail and was wearing a gigantic boutonnière on slightly hideous dress robes.

Severus snorted, "Yes he and that Olympe Maxime have a…'thing' going I suppose you could say."

Lucy giggled, "That's one way to put it. Madam Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons, is a…half-giant, like Hagrid. They traveled the continent together looking for the giants to try and recruit them to the Order. As I understand it they also had a 'thing' going on during the last Triwizard Tournament, like Severus said."

"Ah, yes, I recall hearing that now," Dinah nodded, and then smiled, "That also explains why Hagrid has been so cheerful and distracted at meals as of late. How cute."

"Is that how you'd put it?" Severus smirked.

"I think so," Lucy grinned, "And if you don't behave I'm giving you _all_ the kittens."

Severus growled his annoyance at the idea, causing the rest of the group to laugh, and then all of their attention was diverted as they looked up to see a pastel blue coach pulled by twelve huge, winged horses. As they neared they could see the horses were golden in color and had red eyes. The coach bore the coat of arms of Beauxbatons.

"I heard the horses only drink single-malt whiskey," Lucy murmured.

"That's rather... odd," Dinah commented, seeming completely transfixed by everything in front of her. Lucy recalled that she had been essentially hiding out in the Muggle world the last tournament, and so most of this was very new to her.

"Yes," Sirius said, "but would you want to argue with a half-giant over her horses' diet?"

"Hush," Lucy said, "I'm sure Muggle horses don't do such a thing."

"I wasn't arguing," Dinah blushed, "It's just odd."

Severus smiled slightly in his wife's direction before turning back to frown out at the arrivals.

The coach landed gracefully, and far more lightly than Lucy would have expected. Golden steps tumbled out and the large Headmistress of Beauxbatons descended the stairs.

"I should warn you," Lucy whispered to her friend, "I was warned back in the Order not to call her a giantess or half-giantess. Apparently she's quite self-conscious about it."

Dinah nodded, "Okay. Though, really, what would she expect anyone to think she is?"

"Big boned," Sirius snorted, "That's what she tells people."

"Don't you go saying anything to her," Lucy warned, "I don't need her crushing you or something."

From their perch on the stairs they could see Minerva greet the much larger woman, but they couldn't hear what she was saying. The students around them were chattering too much for anything to be overheard. Slowly, one by one, students in pale blue silk uniforms came out of the carriage. All of them. except one who was quite clearly Fleur's little sister Gabrielle, looked around them with large eyes, taking in their new surroundings. Then they quickly shivered, wrapped their arms around themselves, declared it far too cold to stand outside and rushed indoors.

"I didn't think it was _that_ cold," Lucy commented, "It's actually quite nice out."

Gabrielle moved away from her schoolmates to come over and greet her cousin-in-law, "Bonjour! Fleur told me you would be teaching here! 'Ow is your French? Much improved?"

Lucy giggled, "I'm afraid not. I haven't had much of a chance to practice."

She gasped, taking in Lucy's new figure, "And ze baby? 'Ow iz she?"

"Well, I don't know that it's a she, but just fine. Let me introduce you to my friends," she said, turning to the other three adults with her. "You know my husband Sirius," she said, threading an arm through his, "and you might remember Professor Snape from the last time you were here," Lucy said, nodding towards Severus.

"Oh, yes. 'Ow are you? Fleur said…well, she didn't say nice things, but I think she was not 'aving a good time here, no?"

"Miss Delacour," Severus gave her the briefest nod, "I really cannot say what kind of time your sister was having when she was here," he said, choosing not to comment on her comment about no nice things.

Lucy bit her lip to keep from laughing before opening her mouth to introduce Dinah, "And this is Professor Snape's wife…Professor Snape. Dinah this is Gabrielle Delacour. She's Bill's wife's, Fleur's, little sister."

"So good to meet you," Dinah's warmth clashed perfectly with Severus's cool indifference, and Gabrielle seemed quite surprised at the dichotomy, "Your sister and little niece are lovely. I met them briefly at Lucy's wedding."

"Oh, Victoire iz ze most beautiful little girl! I can't wait for them to 'ave another, but," she said, with a delicate shiver, "it iz so cold out 'ere I shall go inside and see you all later," she danced off inside with a wave.

"Her grandmother's a Veela," Lucy told Dinah, "So be careful you don't get on her bad side."

"Oh, my!" Dinah's eyes widened, and then she laughed, "I really need to get better in touch with the magical world, don't I?"

"You're fine," Severus said with another brief smile. "Perhaps we should go inside as well and-"

"Oh, but I want to wait for Durmstrang to show up so Eugene can introduce us to his friend!" Dinah protested, causing Severus to scowl. Obviously, he had been hoping to avoid anything Eugene-related.

"I think that's them now," Lucy said, pointing out at the lake where the Durmstrang ship was just breaking the surface. The gangplank lowered and they all marched off the ship, removing their fur cloaks as if they thought it was quite warm. Eugene walked up to a middle aged man with a neatly trimmed goatee and black fur coat. "That must be Eugene's friend," Lucy said, stating the obvious.

Severus grunted acknowledgment and seemed to be looking off at the Forbidden Forest as though something there had captured his interest, but Dinah nodded and smiled, "Eugene says they went to school together but he was a few years ahead of him."

"I'm not going to come running out of the forest, Severus," Sirius teased.

"Leave him alone. If you keep teasing him he might actually run into the forest to avoid talking with Eugene, who is coming this way."

"Hello," Eugene smiled at the group as he reached them. "I'd like to introduce you to a school friend of mine. This is Nikolai Petrov, the new Headmaster of Durmstrang."

"Pleased to meet you," Dinah smiled.

"Petrov," Severus muttered before looking away again.

"Vonderful to meet you," Nikolai said, extending his hand to Severus, "I heard much about you from my predecessor, Igor Karkaroff."

Severus smirked and turned to face him again, staring at his hand for a moment before briefly shaking it, "You were a friend of Igor's then."

Nikolai shrugged, "A colleague. He vas nervous about seeing you again. Karkaroff thought I might be interested in joining your cause. He vas mistaken and not as interested in continuing his old loyalties as he seemed."

"It was never _my_ cause," Severus said, his voice menacingly quiet. Dinah's gaze flitted nervously from Nikolai to her husband and she rested her hand on the arm of the latter.

The Durmstrang Headmaster shrugged, "I do not mean to offend. As I understand it I wish not to be on the receiving end of your _Sectumsempra_ curse."

"We've been talking, I see, Eugene," Severus snarled at the other man, before briefly nodding at Nikolai and saying flatly, "Well. I am sure we will speak later. Enjoy your time here," he turned and marched off in the direction of the castle.

"Uh... sorry," Dinah apologized to the group before turning and hurrying after her husband, "Severus, wait!"

"Sorry about that," Lucy said to the two men, "I'm afraid he can be rather temperamental. Please, don't take that as a reflection of our entire school," she begged of Nikolai.

"Of course not," Nikolai nodded, "I apologize, I did not mean to be rude and ignore the two of you."

"It's fine," Sirius said, shaking the other man's hand, "I enjoy getting a rise out of Severus and it's even better when my wife can't yell at me for it."

"Yes," Eugene cleared his throat, "well. I think we'd best get inside and head to dinner. I'm sure it'll be an interesting affair."

"You go on ahead," Lucy waved them when they politely held back for her, "I've been barred from rushing. We'll catch up with you soon enough."


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: Thanks once again for the reviews! I'm glad people are liking how the pov's change around more than in Don't Leave Me. Happy reading :)

* * *

><p>Chapter 34<p>

The dungeons were a much more attractive destination than dinner with that infernal lot, Severus knew. He was heading straight there after that ridiculous introduction, though was aware that he would be required to attend dinner in a half an hour whether he liked it or not. Thankfully, the new school heads would sit on either side of Minerva and his arch-nemesis was pleasantly situated on the other side of the room where he could bother the Blacks and keep well away from Severus.

Severus did _not _do well with déjà vu, he was finding. And Nikolai, Karkaroff, Eugene… all unpleasant reminders of past instances he would rather forget. The whole situation had infuriated him more than he had expected it to.

"What was that all about?" Dinah demanded, hurrying to keep up with him in the school hallways.

"Unpleasant flashbacks!" he bit out, approaching the stairs down to the dungeons and tempted to take them two at a time. She was not going to scold him about this. He had every right to leave that situation.

"Unpleasant flashbacks?" she repeated. He guessed that if he looked at her face he would see bafflement, but he was not looking. Instead, he was intent on reaching the door to his office, eyeing it as it grew closer and closer upon his approach, "You mean about what happened with Eugene?"

"Eugene, Karkaroff, everyone!" he clarified, spelling the door open in his impatience and storming inside, slightly relieved when they passed through his office and entered into the sitting room, "So Petrov views me as a Death Eater, does he?"

"I don't think that's what he meant, not really," Dinah said, her tone cautious, and he finally turned to look at her, seeing the bafflement that he had expected to see. "I think he just phrased things wrong. Either way, was that any reason to leave our group? Nobody insulted you."

He felt his lip curl into a snarl at her, and registered the annoyed look she gave him in response, but he didn't really care at the moment, "You did not sense insults in that exchange? I did."

"You take offense too easily. You are overly sensitive," she declared.

As usual, there she stood, making comments and generalizations about his personality and about everyone's motivations like the incurable idealist that she was, "Don't tell me what I am!" he shouted, "I do not need Eugene going on about the _Sectumsempra _wound I gave him as though it was _my _fault and he did not completely deserve it at the time! Additionally, I do not need students from the Durmstrang institution running around envisioning me as a Death Eater in the same league as that coward Igor! And finally, I do not see why we have to host this infernal tournament and make me sit through a repetition of Harry Potter's fourth year! Is the entire world set on making it so that nothing changes from before?"

"Nothing changes?" Dinah's jaw set, but he could see that little bit of empathy in her eyes that he was so familiar with. "Sit," she ordered, pointing decidedly at the couch.

He wasn't sure why, but he had to obey. He found himself sitting.

Dinah's hands landed squarely on her hips and she looked down at him with a glare of challenge, "I _know _there are some reminders of those days here, but honestly Severus, _plenty _has changed and you know it! _I'm _here now, aren't I?"

He blinked and let her words register, realizing that it was true. How was it that even now he could get into these moods where he fumed on and on about what annoyed him without letting anything else in? The moments seemed at least – he thought – fewer and more far between now, though. And she accepted them without question as a part of him, but still tried to help temper these moments. He sighed, staring up at literal miracle that stood before him. The woman that had made his life… a life.

"Dinah?" he hadn't intended for his tone to come out sort of… pleading, but it had. At least that's what it sounded like to him.

It had its intended effect, though, because her eyes softened and she settled herself onto his lap, gently taking his face into her hands, "You listen to me, Severus Snape. This year is going to be _fine_. It might even be fun. Don't you want to do it all again, but enjoy it more this time? _Have _a companion? Me – your wife? Lucy and Sirius – your friends? And a student body with no Harry Potter present whatsoever?"

He had to admit, that last part sounded attractive. The first part too, of course. The middle part… eh, perhaps. But he would never admit it. "You know, Potter might show up," he said. "One of those friends you mentioned has insisted upon employing his girlfriend. Not to mention you and that infernal Granger know-it-all."

"But it's not the same. This is a good year, Sev. And _nobody _thinks that you're a Death Eater."

He sighed, letting go of a large amount of tension, and nodded, as she moved her hands to wrap around him and cradle his head against her shoulder. He didn't mind this position. It was calming. "You are right, of course. I wasn't thinking. Petrov – well, more Eugene than Petrov – made me angry, and I lost track of what I already knew," he explained, slipping his hands around her waist and underneath her robes, gently stroking along her side with his thumb. He loved the soft feel of her skin. And the fact that she never flinched or drew away at his touch.

"I told you that you take offense too easily," she chuckled, her comfortable tone indicating that her eyes were probably closed, for the moment. It was strange, Severus thought, how he knew her mannerisms so well. How he had memorized every part of her. If only he had realized, in the days when he had been devoted to Lily, how little he had really known of his old friend. He had memorized her eyes and her smile, but it was nothing in comparison to the complete way that he now knew Dinah. There had been so much more to life and to love that he had never experienced until a year ago.

Yes, this year _would _be much better than the last Triwizard Tournament year.

He still wasn't looking forward to being in the same room as the Durmstrang twins, Eugene and Petrov, though. "We still have to go to dinner," he muttered.

"Mm, we do. But I think you can handle it."

"Doubtful."

Light, sweet laughter, and then she lifted her head to meet his eyes, sliding her hands up around his shoulders and neck in a… strikingly sensual manner. "Well, we have fifteen minutes or so. And obviously you still have some relaxing left to do. So how do you feel about a 'time challenge'?"

He felt his lips twitch into an anticipatory smile. A 'time challenge', then? She always had the best ideas, he had to admit. "I would like nothing more."

* * *

><p>Looking around the room, Lucy could see the students from the other schools scattered throughout the house tables. The Beauxbaton's students still looked frozen, while in contrast, the Durmstrang students seemed rather warm.<p>

They had a good time chatting with Eugene and Ginny, who got along fairly well, Lucy sometimes sneaking glances at the Snapes across the way. She enjoyed the crepes and a couple other dishes from France but avoided the frog legs and pickled herring, the latter coming from Durmstrang.

The meal was nearly over, and Lucy was struggling to stay awake, when Minerva cleared her throat and stood. "On behalf of the students and faculty of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I would like to welcome the schools of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to our establishment. I believe many of you remember the tragedies that occurred during the last tournament and I am able to assure all of you that nothing like that will ever happen again. However, before I have the Goblet of Fire brought in I should like to introduce a Ministry official who will be helping to administer and score the challenges during this Tournament. Some of our Hogwarts staff and students might recognize him, but please join me in welcoming the Head of the Auror Office, Gawain Robards."

Lucy glanced over at Sirius, wondering about his reaction. She hadn't been expecting Gawain to be one of the judges but there was nothing to be concerned over. Harry had reported not long before the wedding that Gawain had taken Lucy's advice and was now entirely smitten with Felicity Spore, the woman Lucy had suggested he start seeing.

Her husband was carefully watching the little blond man with the glasses perpetually slipping down his nose, but there wasn't any anger there, just a slight bit of jealousy. In a way she was glad Gawain was here and not Nick. If she had to pick an old boyfriend to hang around with it would be Gawain. He was much less irritating and far more intelligent than Nick. Besides, if it had been Nick sitting up there Sirius certainly wouldn't be sitting next to her still. He'd likely be up there cursing Nick or some such.

When the clapping died down and Gawain had returned to his seat, Minerva continued, "There will be three tasks designed to challenge the champions and Mr. Robards will be joining myself, Professor Petrov, and Madam Maxime in scoring the efforts of the champions during these tasks.

"All students of age who wish to participate in the Tournament will place their names in the Goblet of Fire at some point within the next twenty-four hours, and tomorrow evening the Goblet will choose one student from each school to represent them in the challenges. As we did before there will be an age line drawn around the goblet to prevent anyone underage from entering. I warn you all, do not enter into this competition lightly. We have taken _every_ safety measure possible but we cannot account for everything."

With that Minerva said a few more words encouraging everyone to eat their fill and sat back down. Lucy only picked at her food, concerned about the students and worried that Sirius was going to leap out of his chair and assault Gawain. Of course Severus didn't look as if he was any happier to see the man, but at least his annoyed gaze was jumping around the table. Hopefully, the two men didn't gang up on her ex-boyfriend.

* * *

><p>The Blacks were in the hall saying goodnight to the Snapes when Robards approached them. Sirius knew the man was no competition for Lucy's affections but he still didn't want the guy around and Severus looked as if he felt the same way.<p>

"Lucy, I just wanted to say hi and I hope this isn't too awkward…me being here and all," Gawain said, walking up to the group.

Sirius got the pleasure of seeing Harry's boss's eyes grow wide when Lucy turned to greet him and he got his first full view of Lucy's new figure.

"Oh, um. I hadn't heard," Gawain said, his eyes glued to Lucy's midsection, "Congratulations. I knew you'd gotten married of course. Potter needed time off for that. Weasley too…"

Lucy smiled and ran her hands over her stomach in a way that seemed to have become habitual since becoming pregnant. "Gawain, it's all right, I don't expect you to keep up on the goings on in my life. The situation's only going to get awkward if we let it."

"Right, well, I'm only going to be here during the challenges anyway," he turned to Sirius and extended a hand. When he took it Gawain murmured, "Make her happy. She deserves it."

Sirius couldn't exactly be a pompous snot to the guy after saying something like that so he shook Gawain's hand and nodded, "Yes, she does." He could still be jealous of the guy though. It was obvious, even to him, that Lucy's old boyfriend wasn't a bad guy. Nothing like that Nick character from last year. No, Gawain actually seemed caring and considerate. It almost made Sirius wonder why Gawain and Lucy hadn't worked out. Why had she picked him instead?

Gawain released Sirius's hand and turned to their friends. "Professors Snape. I trust all is well with both of you? Rita's been irritably quiet lately. Makes me wonder if she hasn't got something up her sleeve. Ah, congratulations to the pair of you as well, I see."

"Thank you," Dinah smiled, and Severus just gave an irritated nod. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced, though," Dinah extended her hand in greeting, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh! Sorry," Lucy said, blushing, "Gawain, this is Dinah. You already know Severus I'm sure. Dinah, this is Gawain. I've told you about him."

Gawain nodded, "I've read about you in Rita and Alder's articles. I'm more inclined to believe Alder though. I don't actually know him but he doesn't seem the type to…exaggerate like Rita."

"He doesn't," Dinah assured him, "Both Severus and myself consider Alder as our ally whenever news stories about us insist upon breaking out."

Gawain nodded, "Good to know. Well, I suppose I should be going. I've taken a room at the Three Broomsticks for now you know. I'm sure the four of you would like to get settled for the night and I'll….see you tomorrow then."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "Have a good night."

The Snapes bid farewell to Gawain before saying goodnight to Lucy and Sirius again and heading down to the dungeons. In their rooms, snuggled up in bed, Sirius leaned down to kiss his wife. She responded like he thought she would, so he continued, parting her robes and continuing on to her breasts, which had grown larger and more responsive with the pregnancy.

Mostly he was just enjoying kissing Lucy, his hand wandering down over her stomach to part her thighs. If he examined his motives too much though, he'd probably find that he was also trying to erase any thoughts she might be having of Gawain…and ease his jealousy.

"Mmm, Sirius?" she gasped. "Sirius, wait," she said when he didn't respond, "Hold on."

She shoved on his shoulders and he lifted himself away from her tempting body. "What?" he half-growled.

Lucy looked up at him with sad eyes and a frustrated expression on her face, "We can't do this. I _want_ to do this but we can't."

Sirius flopped onto his back and groaned, an arm flung above his head.

He felt Lucy turn and prop herself up on one elbow before she asked, "What's wrong? Lately it's been you stopping me. Not the other way around."

He sighed and muttered, "Robards seems like a good guy. The kind of guy you should be with. Why did you ever leave him?"

Lucy gave him a half smile and rolled her eyes, "Silly man. I don't love him. Gawain _is_ a good guy, mostly. His heart's in the right place at least but...he chose a job over his principles. His job always came first. He did not want to publicly acknowledge dating me, and we just kind of drifted apart. We have a lot of things in common but we would have led a very boring life together. Besides, I love _you._ Sometimes there's no reason why one person loves another, they just do. Why did Mum love my father?" she shook her head, "I can't answer that any more than I could tell you why Eileen Prince loved Tobias Snape. It's an inexplicable emotion."

He reached up and kissed her cheek. "I'm glad you picked me then. I wouldn't be here without you after all."

Lucy giggled, "Well, neither would Severus. Does that mean he should love me too?"

"No," he said, pulling her down to sleep beside him, "but he _should_ be eternally grateful."


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

"Hey," Lucy murmured to Dinah on the way to the choosing of the champions and the Halloween feast. "Can I talk to you…in private…for a minute?"

"Sure," Dinah said, allowing Lucy to tug her into a nearby broom closet.

"I think Sirius is jealous and it's making him insecure. It's weird. He was being weird last night."

"Jealous?" Dinah blinked, half at Lucy and half at their odd surroundings, "Of Gawain?"

"Apparently," Lucy said, rubbing her forehead. Thinking about this was giving her a headache. "Last night he started snogging me and when I reminded him it couldn't go anywhere he asked me why I wasn't with Gawain. Said he was the type of guy I should be with."

"Well, that's a frustrating thing to say," Dinah frowned. "I suppose he's just insecure, but why would he think that you should be with Gawain?_ I_ don't think you should be with Gawain. You fit _much_ better with Sirius. Not that Gawain doesn't seem like a perfectly friendly gentleman, of course..."

"I know," Lucy nodded, "There's nothing wrong with Gawain really. We just didn't…click or whatever. I don't know if it's just confronting the one decent ex-boyfriend I had or what. I mean he wanted to punch Nick in the face when they met but, really, who wouldn't?" She sighed, "Well, like Gawain said, he's not going to be here long so I suppose I should just let it go and not worry about it. I had to tell someone about it though, so thanks for listening."

"Of course," Dinah smiled, "Severus behaved similarly a couple of times during the youthening, you know. Whenever I mentioned Dylan." She chuckled, "In fact, when we visited my house that first time after the spell took effect he found a picture of Larry of all people, assumed in an instant that it was Dylan, and demanded why I kept a picture of my ex-boyfriend in my foyer."

Lucy giggled, opening the door, "That's silly. Boys can be like that sometimes I guess…and they have the nerve to make comments about how girls react. So, any idea who might become our champion? I saw Agrona throwing her name in earlier and Gabrielle is sulking because she's not quite old enough to enter."

"Hmm, I've been wondering about that myself," Dinah said with a slight amused smile back at the closet after they exited. "I wonder if Astoria entered. I haven't asked. She's quite a powerful witch for her age. Though I'm sure if Gabrielle could enter she would be a good candidate. Her sister was selected, after all."

"Astoria _would_ be good, I'm sure, but I wonder how the Malfoys would feel about her entering? They've said everything is supposed to be safer now, but they said that the last time too. As for Gabrielle, she'd do well enough. She just strikes me as….too innocent to be in a tournament like this one," Lucy glanced up as they reached their husbands and Sirius put an arm around her sizable waist.

"Laying bets on who the champion will be?" he asked.

"No. It's hardly a wise bet," she answered.

"Oh, enough guessing!" Dinah exclaimed, gesturing for them all to hurry forward, "Let's go in there and find out! We wouldn't want to be late, after all."

Lucy laughed, leading the way into the Great Hall, "In other words Dinah's hungry."

"I never said that!" Dinah protested, "I actually am anxious to see the champions selected. This is my first Triwizard Tournament, you know?"

"We know," Severus chuckled, stopping at his and Dinah's seats, "You've been marveling about it all day."

"It's exciting," she smiled, shrugging and pulling her chair back before turning to Lucy, "Let's walk back together after dinner. I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about."

Lucy nodded, "Of course. We'll just leave you to enjoy the show then," she glanced briefly at the Goblet of Fire, standing prominently in front of the staff table. "See you later."

The Blacks made their way over to their seats and sat. Lucy ate with relish, as hungry as she'd accused Dinah of being and casting occasional glances towards Sirius. She was trying to convince herself there was nothing to worry about. After all he didn't seem concerned anymore and if she was in the same situation as Sirius was Lucy was sure she'd be a bit insecure too.

When dinner ended, Minerva stood, cleared her throat, and began speaking. "I know everyone is anxious to find out who the three champions will be," she smiled, "and so I'll forgo any grand speeches while we await the Goblet's first choice."

With a rush of red flames the Goblet expelled a pale blue, umbrella-like piece of paper, which floated down into Minerva's outstretched hand. "The champion for Beauxbaton's is Oceane St. Martin!"

The slender brunette sitting next to Gabrielle stood and seemed to dance her way up to the front where she was congratulated and sent off into a smaller room just off the Great Hall.

Oceane had no sooner left the room than the Goblet emitted more red flames and released a thick, brown piece of parchment that appeared to have been torn off a large piece. The parchment, again, slowly made its way down to Minerva's waiting hand. "Durmstrang's champion for this Triwizard Tournament will be Nikolina Vastagh!"

Nikolina was an athletic looking girl with dark hair that seemed to mark most of the Durmstrang students. She marched up to the front with little expression, though when she got close Lucy could see the excitement in her eyes, and followed the path Oceane had already forged.

At this point the entire Hall seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the Hogwarts champion to be announced.

It seemed to take ages for the flames to shoot up red again, but when they did I simple, ordinary piece of parchment slid through the air and landed in Minerva's hand. "And our…hopefully, final champion, the Hogwarts champion, is Amedeus Flint!"

The Slytherin table erupted in cheers and applause. Actually the entire school was cheering, but the Slytherins were the loudest. Lucy was happy for Amedeus. She didn't know if he was still suffering at the hands of the pure-blooded students in his house but surely this would help his status there. As long as he didn't do abominably, that was. She did hope Agrona wasn't _too_ disappointed though.

Lucy snuck a glance across the table while Amedeus made his way to the front and out of the Hall. Severus was clapping as enthusiastically as she'd ever seen him and Dinah was looking pleasantly surprised.

Minerva waved her hands indicating she wanted everyone to quiet down. "Thank you, everyone. Now that the champions have been named the judges shall more fully explain the rules to them and give them a hint about the coming first task. Everyone else may please return to your dormitories."

The students noisily filed out, talking excitedly to each other about who the champions were and making guesses about what the first task would be. Sirius stood and pulled back Lucy's chair for her, holding out a hand in case she wanted help getting up. Then they wandered over to Dinah and Severus, who were still grinning.

"So, how'd you like your first selecting of the champions?" Lucy asked, "I kind of wish they would have had this when I was in school. It would have been so exciting."

"It was thrilling!" Dinah agreed, "And Amedeus, huh? That's just perfect. A Muggle-born Slytherin in the position will most certainly help the rest of their house warm up to them and improve the whole school's opinion of Slytherin in general. If he wins maybe the house will even tame up a little bit. After all, they seemed so proud he was selected, despite his blood status!"

Severus rolled his eyes, "Idealist," but his expression was still quite pleased.

Lucy clapped her hands together as the four of them started walking out. "Yes, and hopefully it will help him make friends too. Won't that be nice?"

"Lovely," Sirius grinned, "I'd like to think if we'd had the Tournament during our school days, I'd have been picked. I'd have made an excellent champion," he teased. Though he was likely right about it, he didn't seem at all concerned about not getting the chance to be a champion.

Severus's expression twitched into a slight sneer, Lucy noticed before he turned away, at least trying to hide the expression. "Then I should be grateful we did not have it during our school days," he muttered.

"Oh, Severus," Lucy smiled, maneuvering so she could gently elbow him, "I'm sure you would have made an excellent candidate too."

Severus gave a slight cough, but did not turn back to face any of them, "Indeed? I don't know about that."

Dinah chuckled, "Aw, Lucy, you're embarrassing him."

"Hardly," Severus scoffed, walking a little faster.

Lucy giggled, "That wasn't really my intention. I just speak the truth."

Sirius threw and arm around her shoulders and spoke so that Severus had to hear him, "Watch it there. You're starting to match Madam Puddifoot's décor."

Severus stopped in his tracks with a groan, causing them all to nearly run into him. He shook his head, "Honestly, the company I keep now. I give up. Everything has completely changed, hasn't it?"

Dinah smiled, taking his arm, "Ah, Sev. Those changes are for the better though, aren't they?"

"Mm," he managed, smirking a bit as he admitted it, but turning to smile at his wife, "Yes. Ultimately, yes they are."

Sirius, never one to let Severus one up him, leaned down to give Lucy a quick peck. "I think they're pretty good myself."

Lucy grinned, "Mm, me too." They stopped in front of the rooms she shared with Sirius, "Did you guys want to come in and speculate about the first task or…" she was cut off by a sudden yawn.

Dinah laughed, "I guess that's your answer. I do intend to really read up on the old newspapers from the recent tournament. The first task was dragons, right? I wonder if they'll do that again. I don't know that much about it. I can't wait to get all the details."

Lucy blushed a little, "Sorry, it came out of no where. I kind of hope they use dragons again at some point. It means Charlie would likely get to come back again, but I don't know if they will."

"Maybe Minerva will tell us," Dinah said. "Well, good night! Sleep well."

"Thanks," Lucy nodded, "you too." It was one of the few nights she didn't protest about going to bed at a ridiculously early hour.

* * *

><p>"Severus!" Dinah frowned, putting down the newspaper she had been skimming for the past twenty minutes that she had picked up from the library, "Did you know that each champion got a different dragon in the last Tournament?"<p>

"Did I _know_?" Severus smirked, walking over from the dining table where he had been grading to stand by the couch where she was seated, "Well, I was_ here_, so obviously I knew that."

"Do you think they're going to so the same thing again?"

"How should I know? Ask Minerva or Robards."

She shot him an annoyed look. She knew he was moody tonight because he had a late detention to administer, but still. This was a much more important development and he could at least take it more seriously. "Well, if they _do _do the same thing again I'm afraid I can't accept it. It's completely unfair. It says they randomly select dragon species here, but random or not random a Hungarian Horntail is ten times more dangerous than a Swedish Short Snout, which by the way is completely adorable."

Her husband blinked, "You are losing me here, Dinah. _What _is adorable?"

"The Swedish Short Snout. But that's not the point. The _point _is that the Tournament will not be fairly played. The person who gets the Hungarian Horntail is at a _severe _disadvantage compared to the other three! That's not right!"

"Your idealism strikes again I see," he said, smirking once more.

"How is that idealistic?" she demanded, "_Any_one can see that it's unfair! What kind of Tournament would do such a thing? Everyone should be given the _same _dragon."

"Well why don't you tell them that?"

Dinah scowled. He wasn't taking her seriously at all. "Maybe I _will _tell them that."

"I highly doubt it would have an impact, but feel free," he shrugged. "Now, I have a more pressing question to ask you, Mrs. Hufflepuff."

"More pressing than the importance of having a fair-minded tournament?" she demanded, realizing that she was only lampshading the 'Mrs. Hufflepuff' comment, but not really caring about that at the moment.

"I'd like to think so, seeing as before Sirius and I rounded the corner on our way to dinner I happened to notice our red-haired friend shoving you into a broom closet."

She flushed, "Oh, you saw that did you? Sirius didn't, did he?"

"Not that I'm aware of." His eyebrow was raised, demanding to know what she and Lucy had been doing in said closet.

Dinah sighed, "I suppose it can't hurt to tell _you_. Lucy was just a little concerned about Sirius's behavior that's all." She smirked, "It seems he's been doing a little bit of the 'why'd you pick me instead of him' thing with Gawain."

"I… see," both eyebrows were now raised, and Dinah thought she saw a little smugness in Severus's expression, "So Rita Skeeter's 'former playboy' actually lacks confidence in his ability to attract women, does he?"

"I don't think it's about that, Sev. He's not a 'playboy' anymore, and it's not about 'conquest' or his romantic prowess when it comes to Lucy. He really loves and is attached to her. It's more a little bout of jealousy, I think."

"Still, jealousy on his part is not something I would have expected."

Dinah chuckled, "He _is _only human, you know. I confess, in trying to ease Lucy's worries I did tell her a little bit about your own jealousy over Dylan."

He growled a little, "Excellent. Thank you for that. Now I look just as bad."

"It's not _bad_," she laughed again, "It's a little silly, but I think it's a male thing. You men are notoriously insecure sometimes, aren't you? Sirius is all worried that Gawain is a better person for Lucy than him, which I can't really understand. Lucy and Sirius are perfect together. A little… boisterous in public, but still."

"Is that how you'd phrase it?" Severus's tone was thick with sarcasm and Dinah suddenly found it quite stimulating. She blamed the pregnancy hormones for shoving the reaction on her out of the clear blue at this time, when she was supposed to be devoting herself to this whole 'different dragon' fairness issue.

"That's how I just did phrase it," she murmured, smiling. "I really couldn't understand your own bout of jealousy either. Remember in the library when we were kids? You giving me the third degree on Dylan and then storming off when you found out that he was the one who broke things off between us?"

"No," he replied stubbornly.

"Oh, yes you do," she teased, standing from the couch and wrapping her arms about his waist, "It was pretty adorable, really. _Much _more adorable than a Swedish Short Snout. But harder to understand."

"Harder to understand than a Swedish Short Snout?" he asked, his eyebrow raised once more, silently telling her that her comments were making little sense this evening. "I was simply… imagining you with such a handsome, normal, conventional man and it seemed… threatening. Fitting. Like the path you would naturally go down. I didn't want that."

"Oh, to hell with convention! You don't see _me _as conventional, do you?" she was a little apprehensive for his answer.

"No!" he immediately protested, 'That's not what I… well, it was more… oh, why are you making me try to explain this? I was freshly youthened and rather volatile at the time. You know that."

"Oh yes, I do know that," she giggled, "You were so cute, though. What would I do with a boring, conventional man like Dylan when I have _you _instead?"

"I don't know. What _did _you do with a boring, conventional man like Dylan?"

"You!" she gave him a light shove, feeling her face heat up. "You know what I _did_, but I didn't _know _you at the time and you are _much _better, I assure you. So no more jealousy!"

"Have I commented on Dylan at all as of late?"

"No. But you still don't think I'd fit better with someone like him, do you?"

"I do not," he assured, pressing a light kiss to her lips before stepping back, "Unfortunately, it is time for me to administer that detention."

Dinah could not prevent the look of disappointment from spreading across her face, "Oh… I wish it was _my _detention you were administering."

He gave a little, amused snort and regarded her for a few moments, a slight smirk tugging at his lips before he leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Ten points from Hufflepuff for that suggestive statement, Professor Snape. Detention as soon as I get back."

"Oh, Merlin," she breathed, her chest fluttering and her body screaming in ecstasy at the coolness of his tone and the feel of him hovering over her, barely touching her, promising something that she had to wait for. She didn't want to wait. "You know," she teased, trying to keep him here as long as possible, "That comment better not have actually worked. Do the hourglasses register comments made to other faculty members?"

"I really couldn't say," he said, still smirking, "Perhaps you can go look while I administer this detention."

"No," she snagged his hand as he tried to turn, "Come look with me," she murmured, leaning in close and delicately tracing the edge of one of his frock coat buttons with a finger.

"Dinah, I _have _to administer this detention and I cannot be late! I will attend to you _afterwards_!"

"But I don't want to wait," she purred, running her hands along his chest and then very lightly brushing the area between his legs.

He growled and jerked a little but managed to prevent his body from fully responding, "You… you… what is this? Have those 'sexy hormones' of Lucy's finally hit you?"

"Perhaps," she grinned. "After all, we don't know for sure that something won't happen in the third trimester to make it so we _can't _do this anymore, like Lucy. Shouldn't we take every opportunity we have?" she offered, pressing herself up against him, intent on making him respond.

He continued to resist, however, and his control was quite nearly infuriating. "_Dinah_," he growled, shifting a little and trying to put some distance between them. A distance that she decidedly would not allow. "I am going to kill you."

"Please," she requested, lowering her eyelids and pressing her lips to his.

"You utter despicable temptress!" he shouted when she released his lips, though he had been unable not to return the kiss a bit, and she could feel him weakening down below as well, "Stop it! I have to go!"

"Oh, despicable, am I?" she teased, "You know that means that you despise me, right?"

"I am aware of the etymology of the word," he snarled into her ear, unable to resist teasing her back a little despite his protestations, "Just let me finish this detention and I _assure _you I will make it up to you when I return."

She sighed, loosening her grip on him and allowing him enough time to head towards the door before an idea occurred to her and she hurried back to his side, grasping his arm and leaning in close to whisper in his ear, "You… are… _so _… powerful."

"_DINAH!_" he was nearly shouting again now. She had exploited his weakness perfectly, telling him he was powerful, the thing he had wished for all his life. A woman who admired him for his strong magical talents. He really did have some 'self-centered' issues. It really cracked her up when he occasionally still referred to himself as 'The Great Severus Snape'. But ultimately she loved to boost his confidence, especially in moments like this.

Giggling, she pressed herself up against him again, pinning his back to the still-closed door as she looped her arms around his neck, "Oh, how sad. It seems we have no choice but to have another 'time challenge'. After all, you _can't _administer a detention in this state." He was hard beneath her now. _Very _hard. And she was quite smug about having finally gotten him that way.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Clearly," she chuckled, leaning in close, "but I still meant every word."

"Dinah, you…" he snarled at her, "I was doing _perfectly_, damn you, woman! If you had just left off that last comment…"

"But I just couldn't leave it off," she protested, smiling as she began to unbutton the first few buttons of his frock coat, "Is it my fault that I want to make all your dreams come true?"

"You…" he stared at her, looking a little moved and a little awestruck, "Dinah, you… just being near you is enough to… oh, hell!" he snatched her shoulders and drove his tongue into her mouth in a ferocious kiss perfectly designed to indulge her fetish as only he could do. And it worked. Too well in fact.

He was five minutes late for that detention.


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: Thanks to thewrittenword87 for the review and encouraging words! I hope you like this chapter too! I think it's a pretty exciting one myself :)

* * *

><p>Chapter 36<p>

Two days later and Sirius's insecurities seemed to have left him. It probably helped that Gawain had left, but then that wasn't all that comforting since she was now worrying about them coming back when Gawain returned to judge the first task. She nibbled on some bubble-and-squeak as she _tried_ not to think about it too much. Stress was not good for the baby and there just wasn't anything to be done about the situation at the moment. This food though…it was absolutely divine rapture. Just what she had been craving for the last two days. It made her wonder if perhaps Sirius had requested the school have it for lunch this afternoon. That was sweet of him.

She'd just finished eating lunch when her stomach rumbled as if it was hungry. Lucy knew that couldn't be the case since she'd just eaten probably as much as Dinah normally would have, and that was a lot indeed. Then it happened again. And again. She gasped when she realized what the sensation probably was. She grabbed Sirius's hand from where he sat next to her at the staff table and placed it on her clearly pregnant stomach.

"What?" he asked, "Everything okay?"

"Mmmhmm. Just wait for it." There it was again; that feeling of her stomach rumbling.

"Is that…?" he asked, sounding both awed and a little worried.

Lucy nodded, "I think so!" She leaned over and tried to catch Dinah's eye down at the other end of the table.

She caught Severus's instead and pointed frantically at his wife, while he stared at her. He finally seemed to get the hint and nudged his wife, telling her to look down to Lucy. When Dinah glanced her way, Lucy waved her down, indicating she should come down to her end.

Dinah shot first Severus and then Lucy a confused look before removing her napkin from her lap, standing, and coming over to sit next to Lucy and Sirius in Eugene's empty seat. "What's going on?"

Lucy grabbed her friend's hand and placed it next to Sirius's. "Do you feel that?" she asked, grinning like an idiot.

Dinah paused, and then slowly a smile spread across her face. "Oh! I do! Wow, congratulations! I knew you would feel it soon. The first time really is thrilling, isn't it?"

Sirius laughed and somewhat surprisingly left his hand resting on her belly. "Yes," he said, "especially since we are now the object of interest of the entire Hall."

Lucy sighed, "It's real," and shook her head, "I mean I've known it was real but this…makes it more…concrete, I guess."

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, before Severus finished his meal and came over. "You all do realize that the entire room is staring at you?" Severus muttered, his eyebrow raised as he sat down next to Dinah.

Lucy giggled, "Yes, but this kid seems to be rather into public attention. It apparently likes to make itself known when people are around."

He smiled slightly and turned his back to the students, placing one hand on Dinah's stomach; "Not this one."

"Mmm," Dinah smiled at her husband, placing her free hand over his. "Yes, this one prefers to do so only at night and only when I'm stuffing my face with food."

"Which is every night," Severus added.

Sirius frowned, "Our nights are now required to be spent much more sedately than normal."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Well, excuse me. _You're_ the one who got me pregnant and Madam Pomfrey's the one who banned us from…organizing our clothes because of the preterm labor." There were times, like right now, when the 'sexy hormones' bit her and she dearly wished she hadn't stressed so much over everything but there'd been no way to prevent it.

"I know," he sighed, "I'd rather have you and the baby healthy. I don't mean to sound like an unreasonable git. It's just…frustrating."

"You're not the only one who's frustrated," Lucy assured him.

"Stop smiling," Severus chastised Dinah, who had just let a large, pleased-looking grin spread across her face.

"Sorry," she flushed. "It's just that this gives us more time to make sure we're ahead of them." "Must you make everything into a contest?"

"Oh, just you wait," Lucy said, staring at Dinah, "When it comes time to get this kid out we're going to be organizing our clothes as often as he can manage."

"Yeah? Well..." Dinah met Lucy with a challenging return stare before Severus grabbed her hand and made her stand up.

"Enough. Our meal is nearly over and we have classes."

Lucy giggled, "Okay, but just one thing first." She grabbed Sirius's hand from her stomach and placed it on Dinah's before he could protest.

Of course he instantly snatched his hand away, "Lu! Don't _do_ that. It's," he almost grimaced, "well it's rude."

"Oh, relax," Lucy said, rolling her eyes, "you don't have to get all grossed out. Dinah's stomach doesn't feel any different than mine. I bet Severus would touch mine." She issued the challenge as more and more students left the Great Hall.

"I would - what?" Severus looked both stricken and a little freaked out at that comment, and took a step away.

Dinah chuckled, squeezing her husband's hand, "This is _Severus_ we're talking about, Lucy. I know you like to mess with him, but really now."

Lucy sighed, rising to walk out of the Hall, "That's true. I _thought_ maybe it was just Sirius who had an aversion to pregnant people other than myself but I guess it's all men."

"Probably somewhat, but I wouldn't' hold all men to Severus's standards either," Dinah said. "I mean, after all, he's less social than most, aren't you, darling?"

"Whatever you say," Severus snarled a little, keeping a couple steps ahead of them.

"Ah well," Lucy grinned a little, "I don't get it myself. I mean one pregnant stomach feels much like the next but I suppose I better not push my luck. I do hope you don't think I was being rude though. I wouldn't have done it if I thought it would bother you," she said, attempting to apologize for something that might have upset her friend.

"I'm not bothered," Dinah assured her.

"Okay," Lucy nodded. The foursome stopped outside Lucy's classroom door as Sirius kissed Lucy goodbye and continued on to their rooms. During the kiss she saw Ginny grin and hurry into the room out of the corner of her eye. "So, um," she said, blushing. Those sexy hormones were still at work and now she was worked up and left to deal with it on her own as it were. Not that Sirius had any idea what he'd done. "I know you've got a break now Dinah so if you want to come sit in on class I don't mind."

"Thanks," Dinah smiled, "But I have a short meeting with Hermione right now," she explained, ignoring Severus's eye roll at the mention of the girl in concern.

"Okay," Lucy said, heading into her classroom, "but don't forget about that meeting tonight. We're going to learn about the first task."

"Oh!" an odd little fire of conviction seemed to flash in Dinah's eyes and Severus appeared to notice, as he gave his wife an amused smirk; "Yes, I _definitely_ won't forget about that!"

* * *

><p>"So," Ginny said, as they entered Lucy's office after her first year class, "what was all the commotion at lunch about? A couple of the first years mentioned something happened when I was helping with their discussion groups."<p>

"Oh," Lucy grinned, "Sirius is just squeamish about touching Dinah now. Apparently that's common though because Severus nearly ran away at the mention of touching _my_ stomach."

Ginny looked confused as she tried to picture Severus Snape running away from a pregnant woman. Lucy gave up waiting for her to complete the picture and grabbed her hand, placing it on the part of her stomach that was currently experiencing the little flutters becoming more familiar to her. "Oh!" Ginny gasped, "Lucy! There's a baby in there," she sounded awed.

Lucy giggled and leaned back in her chair, "Mmm, yes there is. I guess this means I really have to start getting things for the baby's room, little baby clothes, toys…"

Ginny laughed, "Well, I wouldn't go getting too much yet. We still have that baby shower at Hogsmeade House."

Lucy pulled a face. After a lot of consideration and going back and forth about the location they'd finally decided that Hogsmeade House was the best place for it. She really was excited for the baby shower; she just didn't want to wait to get gifts for the baby. "Right, which reminds me I should probably let Dinah know not to go buying a lot of baby stuff too. How do you tell someone not to buy something without telling them _what_? It's just we've already ordered something for Dinah and it's one of those bigger things that she might be thinking about getting soon."

Ginny shrugged, "I don't know. Give it to her before the shower?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Except it's not going to be ready until after the shower Gin."

"What did you order that it's going to take that long to get here? I mean the shower's not for awhile yet…"

"It's custom made. That's why it's going to take so long."

"Oh, that's nice. I hope they like it."

"I'm sure they will," Lucy grinned, "Now we should get to grading these papers. With the meeting tonight we won't have as much time to grade as normal."

* * *

><p>"And now that we're finished with that, we can move on to discussing the first task of the Triwizard Tournament," Minerva said.<p>

Lucy sat near Dinah and Severus, seeing as Sirius wasn't a member of the faculty he wasn't at the meeting. Dinah's husband had spent the whole meeting glaring at Petrov and Eugene, his new arch-nemeses.

"Unlike the last Tournament, this year's first task will be the water challenge. All three heads discussed it and we feel that this will allow the water to be a little warmer while adding the challenge of more aquatic life to deal with.

"Each champion," Minerva continued, "will be given a clue to the task from their Headmaster or Headmistress. As in the previous Tournament a 'treasure' will be taken from the participants. The treasure is, of course, a close friend, family member, or a significant other. These people will be carrying a hint to the next task with them. None of the stolen people will be harmed during this task and, as always, members of the faculty are not to help the champions complete their assigned task. Are there any questions?"

Lucy raised her hand, lowering it self-consciously when everyone turned to stare, "The clue for the next challenge will lead them to dragons then? I've gotten a couple letters from Charlie and it sounded like it would be. Though he wouldn't say for sure…"

"Ah! Is that so?" That odd conviction returned to Dinah's gaze as she looked from Lucy to Minerva. Lucy caught an eye roll from Severus but his glare did not leave the two Eastern European men.

"Yes," Minerva confirmed, giving Dinah a weary glance, "The second task will involve dragons. It is scheduled to take place in late February."

"And... will its nature be the same as five years ago?" Dinah pressed.

"There will be three nesting females brought in and the champions will be tasked with retrieving a golden egg, yes," Minerva said, still not looking sure about Dinah's questions.

"Females of different species?" Dinah continued to prod. Lucy had no idea what she was getting at either.

"I believe so," Minerva nodded, "I have been in contact with Charlie Weasley as well and he seems to think they'll have a number of nesting females to choose from around the proper time."

"Charlie Weasley, huh...?" Dinah considered in a soft voice before turning an oddly scrutinizing look to Lucy, "Perhaps I should tackle this at the source then."

"May we move on from this subject now, Dinah?" Minerva asked, a little impatiently.

"Oh," Dinah turned back to her, "Yes, for now, but I'd like to arrange a meeting with you sometime over the next few days to discuss something, if that's all right?"

"Of course. We'll arrange something after the meeting. Now, moving on."

Lucy frowned, not paying much attention to the rest of the meeting. That look Dinah had given her….why in the world would Dinah think that she was 'the source' of her apparent dragon issues?

The other members of the faculty discussed various issues relating to their students and the school in general before winding down the meeting with a final question of "Is there any other business to discuss before we finish?"

Dinah raised a hand.

"Professor Snape?" Minerva addressed her by her full title, probably for the benefit of the visiting professors.

Severus suddenly snapped to attention, turning a confused look to Minerva, "What? No, I have nothing to-"

"She was talking to _me_, Severus. I'm raising my hand over here if you were paying any attention!" Dinah chided her husband for being so wrapped up in his glaring contest that he had apparently spaced out from the meeting.

"Ah. Well," was all he said in response.

It was Dinah's turn to roll her eyes before saying, "My assistant, Hermione Granger, was wondering if it might be all right for me to allow her to take one class period to discuss house elf issues with the Muggle Studies classes. I would, of course, monitor everything. I just feel as though it would be a good learning experience for her and help her learn how to present her ideas in a more focused, less threatening manner. But I wanted to clear it as it doesn't really have anything to do with Muggles."

"I think that will be fine," Minerva nodded, "though you might want to go through her lesson plans before you allow her to lecture."

Lucy grinned, for being an almost Ravenclaw, Hermione sure had the passion of a Gryffindor.

"Oh, of course, that was always my intention. Thank you," Dinah folded her arms back in front of her, indicating she was finished.

"Then I think we can call this meeting adjourned," Minerva said.

After that Lucy stood to leave with the rest of the faculty, only stopping when someone called her name in a tone that told her it wasn't the first time they'd called her. She turned to see Minerva beckoning her over. "I'll just be a minute," she assured the Snapes, who had been charged with walking her back to her rooms.

"I was hoping that you and Sirius would be available to meet with me tonight? I'll come to you, of course."

Lucy nodded, "Yes. Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing to worry yourself over. I received another letter from the Board of Governors and thought it prudent to discuss it with the pair of you."

She could feel her heart start to race and the blood drain from her face, "Another letter?" she whispered.

"As I said," Minerva assured her, "it's nothing to worry over. I've taken care of it, but want to keep you apprised of what is being discussed."

"Oh," she said, frowning, "okay. I suppose I'll see you later tonight then."

She started to turn away again when Minerva called her back one last time, "Lucy? I hear from Miss Weasley that you've started to feel the baby move. It's a wondrous time, make sure you enjoy it and don't worry about what the Board thinks."

She nodded again and headed back for the door. Lucy felt more depressed than was probably wise but there wasn't much she could do about it. She was thankful for the distraction Dinah and Severus would hopefully provide though.

"Lucy," Dinah said, "I was wondering if-"

"Severus!" a loud, boisterous voice interrupted them as Slughorn appeared in their group, clapping a hand on the very irritated-looking Severus's shoulder, "I've been meaning to talk to you for some time now, and now that we've had this meeting I simply _must_! Dinah, you don't mind if I borrow your husband for a bit, do you?"

"Oh, not at all," Dinah smiled sweetly at Slughorn as Severus shot her a glare.

"Excellent!" the old man clapped his hands together with glee.

"What is this about?" Severus demanded.

"Slytherin, of course! We must put our heads together and come up with a way to make this champion of Hogwarts into a promotional tool for our house, which needs a good solid reputation boost as you well know."

"Have fun," Dinah said with a small wave and an amused smile. Severus scowled back at her as Slughorn drug him off down the hallway.

"Lovely to see those two getting along, isn't it?" she teased, turning back to Lucy.

Lucy giggled, though it didn't sound normal even to her ears. Still the thought of what Slughorn might be torturing Severus with _was _amusing. "Adorable even. Truthfully I was a little worried he'd heard about the baby and wanted to latch onto me again. I don't mind people feeling for the baby, it's just Horace can be a bit much at times as we both know."

"Oh, yes. I'm going to go arrange my meeting with Minerva, I'll be right back," Dinah disappeared for about a minute and then returned, "All settled. By the way," she said as they began walking, "Do you mind asking Charlie if he can find _three_ nesting females of at least one of the species, preferably all of them? I'm not sure exactly where he works or how many dragons there are, but... well, just say he should have them on standby," she said, in deep consideration again.

"Sure," Lucy said, still a little confused about Dinah's interest in the dragons, "If you want you can write to him direct. He works at the only dragon reserve in Romania so the owl shouldn't have much trouble finding him. My letters always seem to find him and I can never get the name of the place quite right myself. It's in Romanian and apparently impossible for me to spell or pronounce, but if you want me to forward something along to him I don't mind," she offered, walking along the hall.

"Well, I'll write it up and let you know. There might be a fight involved in this, but Minerva and the Board of Governors just _have_ to consider my point. I mean, think about it Lucy. Do_ you_ think it's fair that each champion gets a different species of dragon when one may be so much more threatening than another?"

"Um," Lucy hesitated, shying away from the mention of the Board of Governors, "well, no but I'm not sure a Ravenclaw is the best person to ask about that. My reasoning would say that pitting say, Severus and me against the same type of dragon would be just as unfair considering our different skill sets. But I do see what you mean…maybe try to ensure the dragons are more of similar temperaments at the least."

"But the _point_ of a contest is the participants using their different skill sets. Scientifically, one would need a good control, and different dragons is no kind of control. I mean, what if the strongest person got paired with the easiest dragon instead of the reverse, and they won even though the weaker person who got paired with the hardest dragon put up a stronger fight? It works out unfairly either way, you see?"

"Yes," Lucy said, knowing Dinah had a point but at the same time not caring overmuch about it. Not caring about her friend's opinions only succeeded in making her feel worse though. What kind of person was she that her sole concern at the moment was what had been in that letter sent to Minerva? It made her selfish that's what it did. Dinah was _trying_ to improve the Tournament and make it fairer for all involved, Hufflepuff that she was.

Luckily, Dinah didn't seem to notice her indifference, too wrapped up was she in her new mission. "Great! And thanks, that little exercise definitely helped me frame my argument better, now that I can see it from both sides. After all, if I want to make an impact I can't rush in there sounding like_ too_ much of an idealist. Although I probably will anyway," she grinned and gave a little shrug.

Lucy grinned. If nothing else Dinah's cheerfulness _was_ starting to distract her, "Well you _are_ a Hufflepuff. That's the thing about Gryffindors," she said, thinking of Hermione, "they can sometimes be a little too passionate about things."

"That's why I hope to work with Hermione a little on this house elf issue. It could be good for both of us," they stopped at Lucy's rooms.

"Yes, I'm sure it will," she agreed, turning the handle and pushing the door open slightly so Sirius knew she was home, "I'll see you tomorrow then? And you'll tell me all about Severus's conversation with Slughorn?"

"Whatever I hear of it," she grinned, heading off with a wave.

Lucy sighed and wandered inside, where Sirius was sitting in a chair waiting for her and stroking an increasingly chubby Dora.

"Good meeting?"

"The meeting was fine," she told him, walking over to balance on the arm of the chair, "Dinah's got some dragon issue she wants to talk to Charlie about…I don't know."

Sirius looked up from the paper he'd been reading and raised a hand to her cheek, "What's wrong?" he asked, stroking his fingers along side her face.

"Minerva's coming over to talk about a letter she received from the Board of Governors today. It's not going to be good news. I know it. She said not to worry and that she took care of it but how can it be anything but bad news?"

A knock on the door prevented him from answering and Sirius helped Lucy shift from the arm of his chair to the couch. Dora, miffed that she'd been forced to move, hopped up next to Lucy and snuggled with her.

"Hello, Minerva," Sirius said, formally. "Lucy said you wanted to talk to us about a letter from the Board?"

Her boss followed Sirius into the room and settled into the chair he'd recently vacated. "Yes," she said, once settled, "I also told her not to worry, that I had taken care of it. However, I do think it important for you both to be aware of what was in the letter."

"I assume since our bags aren't being packed, it wasn't that bad?" Sirius asked.

"No," Minerva shook her head, "nothing like that. They expressed interest in having Lucy come in for an interview regarding the rumors they've heard. I told them that Lucy's condition would not allow her to go through the added stress of an interview of that nature. I haven't received a reply back yet, but I see no reason that they won't accept the delay."

Lucy listlessly put her head on Sirius's shoulder, "It doesn't matter."

"What?" Sirius said, looking down at her.

"They'll have their way eventually. I'll go in for an interview eventually and somehow this delay will get twisted around to me not being able to handle the stress of teaching or whatever. It doesn't matter what I say to them."

"Lucy," Sirius said, lifting her head so that she had to look him in the eye, "don't give them what they want just because _they_ want it. As long as you want to stay here I will do everything I can to make them see you are a wonderful professor, no matter what's in your past."

"Nor will I allow the Board of Governors to dictate to me who I can and cannot employ," Minerva added. "Especially as you've already been employed here for a year. If they had concerns then they should have addressed them with Dumbledore."

Lucy sighed, but remained silent. She didn't want to leave, but she wasn't sure how hard she wanted to fight for this either. She certainly didn't want to discuss her past in front of all the world. It wasn't any of their business. Maybe it was hormones from pregnancy but right now she'd just rather crawl into bed and hide from the world.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

"So, what exactly did you want to talk with me about, Dinah?" Minerva asked on Thursday evening after dinner, striking a rather different image than Dumbledore did as she sat behind the huge desk. But she did fit the part of headmistress well.

"I would like to request that some key, important changes be made in the Triwizard Tournament's second task," Dinah decided to be blunt.

The headmistress blinked, "Changes? What possible changes could you want made? It is the decision of the Board of Governors and the Ministry how to conduct-"

"They are conducting it unfairly!"

The older woman sighed and seemed to resign herself to hearing Dinah out, "How so?"

"For example," Dinah began, trying to figure out the best way to approach this, "I was reading newspapers that came out at the time of the last tournament and it came to my attention that four different species of dragon were _randomly _assigned to the champions."

"Yes, and your point is?"

It was Dinah's turn to sigh, "Why am I the only person who can see the issue here? Harry Potter, the youngest participant and a participant that you yourself wanted excluded from the tournament in the first place due to his age, somehow managed to randomly pick the notorious Hungarian Horntail."

"Yes, that was unfortunate," Minerva's gaze drifted into reminiscence, "But we were unable to argue with the laws of the Tournament."

"But that's the point I'm trying to make. We need to change the laws at their source, before anything like that can happen again. Even without the age issue, Hungarian Horntails are _extremely _more aggressive than any other species of dragon. One student will be at a severe disadvantage in comparison to the others, and that is _not _fair at all. How can one pick a true winner of the Tournament if the students are not all given equal challenges?"

Minerva frowned, "You may have a point. However, the Tournament was not _necessarily_ designed to be fair, you must understand. The champions are expected to be strong enough and prepared to face unfairness and that is a part of the challenge of the Tournament."

"No," Dinah shook her head, "I can't accept that. You may think you have a slight point, but I can counter it. The students _must _all have the same dragon!"

"One dragon for all students?" Minerva looked, understandably, doubtful.

"_No_!" Dinah exclaimed, exasperated, "That would be silly. The dragon would be so tired out that the last student would be the natural winner. I mean all the same species of dragon, obviously."

"They _must _have that?" Minerva raised an eyebrow, "You do realize how complicated that would be, getting all of the people involved to change the Tournament rules? I must say you are a determined Hufflepuff. Even Pomona has never gone this far about something in the interests of fairness, though I suppose perhaps she has come to accept the status quo of things, having been here so long. You young professors present me with quite a challenge on many different counts," there was a hint of teasing in the old woman's gaze.

Dinah flushed at the offhand reference to her pregnancy and let her hand briefly float over her rounding abdomen, "Yes, well, either way I am determined to see this through."

"I can see that. But I'm afraid an argument based only on idealism will-"

"My argument is _not _based solely on idealism!" Dinah retorted, having been prepared for that accusation and glad that Lucy had given her some ideas with which to defend herself. "If you would allow me to counter the point that I mentioned before, even if the student given the difficult dragon is strong enough to face the challenge, if the student given the easier dragon is of a stronger nature themselves, well then you can see how they might win by default no matter how hard the student with the tougher dragon works. Therefore…" she continued, trying to lay out her reasoning in the best, most logical, Ravenclaw-like way that she could.

Minerva, Gryffindor that she was, seemed more exhausted the longer she listened and completely lacked the proper enthusiasm for Dinah's points, but in the end she kindly agreed to talk to the Board of Governors about this and see what they said, and then go from there.

Still, Dinah figured she'd have a fight on her hands, convincing all of the people involved to make these changes.

But she would not give up until she had achieved fairness in the Tournament. Of that, she was certain.

She felt both triumphant and a little apprehensive as she made it back down to the dungeons.

"And how did it go?" Severus asked, looking up from where he sat at the table doing some late grading.

"She's going to talk to the Board of Governors," Dinah admitted. "They're the first step, and then the Ministry. And hopefully Lucy will have Charlie on standby to get some better dragon selections."

He snorted, "You still think this is somehow going to go through? Even with Lucy's logic, the Tournament rules have been in place for so long that I doubt anyone will be willing to change them, no matter how strong a point you make."

"Don't say that!" she exclaimed, feeling pregnancy hormones start to rear themselves for attack, "_Nobody _takes me seriously about this, not even my own husband."

Severus blinked and his gaze softened slightly, "Dinah, that's not what I-"

"Well you've just been snorting and scoffing about the whole thing as of late," she argued, plopping down on the couch and biting angrily into a plum she summoned over from the leftover fruit bowl from dinner, "Oh, and rolling your eyes at me. I _know _I'm a Hufflepuff but is that any reason that I can't be determined enough to make this go through? I _will _make it go through! You can count on that and then you'll see what I – oh!" she flushed as he had suddenly appeared at her side, so quickly she was sure she hadn't seen him coming. Unless he had apparated there, but there seemed to be little point to that.

She looked up at his impressive figure standing next to the couch and hovering over her. "What?" she demanded, trying not to cry.

"I take you seriously, Dinah. My Slytherin sensibilities find you amusing and slightly ridiculous, yes, but don't let any of that ever make you believe I don't take you _seriously_."

"Is that so?" she challenged.

He sat next to her, "I admire your dedication to this, and I suppose, if you _do _continue with this sudden stubborn streak of yours it _might _be possible for your changes to go through. I simply do not want to get your hopes up."

"Oh," she felt a small smile form, but inwardly scolded her hormones for making her emotions jump around like this. "Well, good."

"Now, if my ridiculous idealist is finally secure in my faith in her should we entertain ourselves with something else?" Severus purred in question, pinning her back to the couch.

Dinah had to laugh. "Mm," she agreed, meeting his kiss.

* * *

><p>Should she tell Dinah about the letter? Her friend was watching closely from across the staff table a couple days later and Lucy could only assume her rather subdued mood had something to do with it. No, this wasn't Dinah's fight and her friend shouldn't have to worry about it at this time in her life.<p>

"Professor!" Agrona called, rushing up to her with Derwent in tow. "Isn't it great that Amedeus got chosen for the champion? I was kind of upset I didn't get chosen but after the clue he told us about I'm kind of glad I wasn't. I can't afford to have _any_ kind of treasure taken from me. And what happens if the champions don't find it? Do they lose it forever like the clue said?"

"Oh," Lucy said, frowning, "I'm sorry Agrona, I'm not really supposed to help with that. Though I suppose it couldn't hurt to say that forever might be a bit of an exaggeration."

"I told you," Derwent said to his girlfriend, "If they took it forever that'd be like stealing or something. _And_ if you'd remember right Harry Potter got help from Barty Crouch Jr. not a professor. He wasn't even supposed to be alive let alone teaching at Hogwarts. Crouch rigged the whole thing if you ask me."

Sirius chucked, "In hindsight, I'd think that was rather obvious."

Lucy grinned, her husband's chuckle making her feel more at ease, "Well, looking back we can always see what we didn't see then. You guys had best get off to class though. Just because the Tournaments going on doesn't mean you get to slack off in your classes. I expect both of you to do very well on your N.E.W.T.s you know."

Agrona smiled and nodded, "Yes, Professor. We wouldn't let you down."

"I never thought you would. Now, go on. I'll see you two in class later."

* * *

><p>Lucy gasped and sat up as fast as she could in their squeaky, Hogsmeade House bed.<p>

"What is it?" Sirius asked, sleepily. They'd recently gone to bed and he'd likely just started to fall asleep.

"Your birthday's soon!" Lucy said, shifting around to face him as he lay on his back in the middle of the bed.

"Lu, it's next month. That's not soon," he said, rubbing a hand over his face.

She rolled her eyes at her ridiculous husband, "It's at the _beginning _of the month; that makes it soon. We have to do something."

"It's late. What exactly do you wish to do about it?"

"Well, I don't know precisely but it _will_ require planning. We can't just do nothing. It _is_ a big day for you."

"I don't mind doing nothing. In fact I'd be quite pleased to spend the entire day with you in bed."

"Lovely as that sounds," Lucy countered, "it's not going to happen. First of all, as our favorite bed amusement is off limits I think we'd get rather restless after awhile. Secondly, I'm pretty sure December third falls on a Friday which means I have class most of the day. But don't you worry. I am going to plan something wonderful. Oh! I'll make a cake!"

"Lucy," Sirius said, sounding amused with her chatter, "I'll gladly let you do whatever you want if you'll just go to sleep now." He reached up and pulled her giggling form down to him, shifting her so that Lucy lay on her side next to him. Kissing her temple he said, "You can plan all the parties you want if it will help get you out of this mood you've been in."

Lucy stilled and became quiet for a moment, "I'm _trying _not to think or worry about it."

"I know,' he said, running a hand up and down her back, "That's why I haven't brought it up. You're doing your best. And you know we might have to have two parties anyway."

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"Well, I don't think Harry and the Snapes are ready to be quite _that_ chummy."

"That's true," Lucy nodded. "Okay so we'll have two parties then. This'll be fun," she murmured, snuggling into her husband's side and slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"So," Lucy said, practically skipping up to Dinah during the start of the fourth Game Night of the year, "I'm throwing a party for Sirius's birthday. Two parties actually since Severus probably doesn't want to go to a party that Harry's attending. Anyway, you two can come can't you? I mean you sort of have to, everyone else will becoming to the 'family' one so you'd be the only guests. Unless you think Severus would be okay with inviting the Lupins too but somehow I think they'd fall into the same category as Harry regarding socializing with them."<p>

Dinah blinked, probably surprised at her cheerfulness; "Uh... sure. Well, the Lupins are _more _tolerable than Harry's group but he'd probably just as soon prefer a two on two thing," Dinah admitted.

"That's what I thought. Now, I'm going to bake a cake and get some decorations and maybe it'll snow by then…if we weren't so big I'd suggest you bring Twister. Sirius seems to like playing that and I have to say I do too…" Lucy frowned for a minute while she thought, "I'd have to check the calendar to be sure but I think his birthday is on a Friday this year. It was a Thursday last year I remember because you and I had a movie night and he almost kissed you when he snuck in to surprise me."

Dinah's face reddened, "Oh, _that _time... when was that exactly? You think it will snow by then?"

Lucy smacked her forehead, "Sorry, I don't know why I thought you'd know when his birthday was, there's no reason why you would. It's December 3rd."

That got another blink out of Dinah, "You're kidding, right? And you're going to buy a cake and decorations _now_?"

Dinah's reaction made Lucy laugh, "No, I'm going to _bake_ a cake Dinah. It is a bit early to be getting decorations I know, but it _is_ a big birthday and since I'm still not supposed to be on my feet too much I have to do all the shopping through catalogues and I don't know how long delivery will take." Lucy shrugged, "I know it's kind of insane, Sirius thinks so too, but it's giving me something to do and keeping me occupied."

"I see," Dinah said, giving Lucy that considering look again. She opened her mouth, and then closed it, choosing instead to smile, "That's good. Just don't bake the cake right now or it might taste bad in December."

Lucy giggled, "I wouldn't do that. Maybe make a couple trial cakes…oh! I don't know if you remember Angelina from my hen party or not but we just got word after dinner that she and George are engaged. The wedding's going to be this April! I guess I started a trend in the family for quick weddings."

"Well, give them my congratulations," her friend smiled, teasing; "I assume the circumstances surrounding their 'quick wedding' differ from yours, though?"

Lucy blushed and ran her hands over her unborn child, "No, no. Angelina and George were both adamant that there is no way Angelina is pregnant."

"Just checking," Dinah laughed. "It will be lovely attending another wedding, I'm sure. You'll probably be attending a _wave_ of weddings soon, large as your family is."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed, "I wouldn't be surprised if most of them end up married in the next few years. If Charlie gets married though it'll be awhile. His job is number one right now and it probably should be. I'd hate to have him really injured because he was being all lovey over a girl. At the same time though he's been talking an awful lot about Violetta in his letters. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I hope both of them have a chance to come here later."

Dinah agreed. "You haven't heard back about the dragons yet, have you? I'm still waiting for Minerva to convey my complaints to the Board of Governors but it can't hurt to keep the extra females on stand-by," she said, determined to see this dragon thing through. Lucy had never witnessed such stubborn Hufflepuff determination before.

"Charlie said he thinks it'll be likely they can have _two _of the same kind of dragon and a third of a similar temperament, but he can't really guarantee it any more than a healer could have guaranteed us getting pregnant around the same time."

"Well, that will have to do," Dinah frowned. "Now it's just the Powers that Be that I have to worry about. But I'm determined to get this change put through!"

"Charlie will do his best for you I'm sure. It just all depends on what dragons lay eggs and which don't. So," Lucy said, shifting in her chair while she watched Agrona, Jania, and Mae play a game together, "I was looking at some cots with Sirius. I'd like to get one soon so we can set up the nursery before One gets here."

"One?" Dinah repeated, looking very confused, "One what?"

"Number one," she said pointing at her stomach, "I know this hasn't been the easiest of pregnancies so far but there's no way I'm stopping at one. I'm having at least one more. I was an only child. I don't want to _have_ one." Lucy shrugged, "I just started calling the baby One. I mean I can't name it yet. Anyway, I wanted to get a cot and then Sirius pointed out, quite rightly, that Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur would want to get us something larger for the baby so we should probably wait until after the baby shower."

Dinah nodded, "Yes. That's why I haven't really bought anything either. But it's quite convenient! Muggles have these things called electronic gift registries where you can have a store record the things you want and send the list out to all your relatives, so you know what to buy and what not to buy and the buyers can compare...Oh, I suppose I should probably tell you what's on the registry or something, shouldn't I...?" she trailed, considering.

Lucy giggled, "Probably. Though if it's something that only exists in the Muggle world then I'm probably not going to get it anyway. I don't have a list myself…"

"Well, I'll show you, but if you want to know what's already been bought then you'd have to contact my family or Rosa and Luke. There are enough basic things on there that can be found in both worlds, of course, like a cot, a high chair, cloth diapers, etcetera."

"Mmmm. Hey now," Lucy said, looking down at her stomach, "Night time is not play time. You don't get to sleep all day and keep Mummy up all night."

Dinah smiled, "They can be persistent, can't they?" Her gaze drifted around the room, "You know, I'm really pleased with how well the Durmstrang and Beaxbaton's students are taking to these game nights. I guess it's because they already are interested in making friends at Hogwarts and they come from schools where there is no sorting, but... I'm glad. This might help the Hogwarts students get used to these events. Starting them up during the Triwizard Tournament year seems to be just what was needed. What a stroke of luck." It was nice seeing Dinah finally looking confident about these game nights.

"Yeah, it was lucky wasn't it," Lucy grinned back at Dinah, "I think you've got a success on your hands here."


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

"I heard the wand weighing went well today," Lucy told Sirius as she entered their rooms the next evening, "so it looks like everything's all set for the first task. Well, they'll have to get the 'treasures' but they obviously can't do that right now."

"That's good," Sirius said, feeding a very chubby Dora. A few letters sat on one of the end tables. Surely letters from Harry, the Lupins, the Weasleys, and a few random others.

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "it's going so much smoother than last time. Hopefully that doesn't change. Anyway, there's a Hogsmeade weekend next week and it's my turn to go. I thought, if you were interested, we could stay there for the weekend."

"That sounds nice," he said, coming over and putting his arms around her, "but Harry's got next weekend off and invited us down. I can still decline though."

"No," Lucy protested, "he doesn't get that much time off. You should go. I have to stay and supervise the Hogsmeade students though. I wish I could go with you. It feels like forever since I've seen Harry, but I can't just skip out on my job. Dumbledore was kind enough to not allow me to do Hogsmeade weekends last year but I'm going to do all the duties I'm supposed to be doing now."

"I don't want to leave you alone," Sirius hedged.

His caution made Lucy grin, "I'll be fine. I'm hardly alone, there's a few hundred people here at least and I'm sure Dinah and Severus would be more than happy to check on me if it would make you feel better. But I'm _not_ staying with them," she insisted when he opened his mouth, "Poppy says there's no reason I can't walk to Hogsmeade and back so long as I make sure to sit down and have a proper meal when I'm there. So there is no need for constant supervision my husband."

At some point during their conversation Sirius had sat on the couch and settled Lucy down next to him. She took the opportunity to climb on top of him, straddling his lap. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her forehead against his. She kissed the tip of his nose and moved a little to lean down a bit more, melding her lips with his.

"Lucy," Sirius groaned against her lips.

"I know, but can't we just…" she kissed him, "There's no restrictions on kissing."

"Well, no," he said, a definite huskiness in his voice, "it's just that kissing generally leads too…"

Lucy shifted her weight, felt his arousal resting between them and sighed, "It leads to you being…uncomfortable to say the least and the both of us being rather wound up and frustrated. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," he said, pushing her hair behind her ears, "but I think I'll go see Harry next weekend if you're sure you'll be fine."

"I'm sure," she nodded.

* * *

><p>"So, thanks for agreeing to check on me and walk around with me," Lucy told the Snapes the next weekend, "I don't think Sirius would have gone otherwise. He should be able to go places without worrying about me. I'm not as bad as I was last year and I'm not…" she hesitated. After all she <em>was <em>a little stressed about that letter. "Well, I'm not _so_ stressed like earlier in the year…"

"It's no trouble at all," Dinah assured her as they walked further into Hogsmeade village. Her gaze drifted around the area, "It's going to start snowing soon, probably," she clutched her husband's arm and smiled, "It's been almost a year since that time," she pointed at The Three Broomsticks as they passed, "Remember our 'first date'? That was _after_ we ran into you and Sirius and the boys nearly killed each other," Dinah informed Lucy, causing Severus to clear his throat and have the dignity to look embarrassed.

Lucy blushed, "I remember. I believe that was the same day I complained about not having had a first date to Sirius. I got that date eventually though. It…was a good night. It snowed."

"That's lovely," Dinah smiled.

Severus sighed, meeting his wife's smile, "I do recall that day. I remember we dined at The Three Broomsticks and I enjoyed your company immensely, although I do regret not saying so in so many words."

"You were rather stoic, I'll admit, but that's fine," Dinah assured him, but looked pleased at his admission. Then she giggled, "Remember you said 'you come here often'?"

"I - that was a mistake!" Severus retorted, a flush creeping into his pale face.

"A mistake, huh?" Lucy grinned, "I didn't think the great Severus Snape made mistakes."

He snarled a little at Lucy's comment, but Dinah just giggled, "Yeah, it was hilarious to hear him use such a bad pick-up line."

"It wasn't supposed to be a pick-up line!" the poor man continued to try and defend himself.

Lucy laughed, "It's all right. Really. Sirius wasn't any better. He actually had the bad manners to point out I had been so busy staring at him that I hadn't heard Dumbledore introduce us. Of course that was when we met. Like I said before, he never actually asked me out. We never really went on a first date. We never went on any dates back then. Unless you count the times we managed to sneak off together…"

Dinah grinned, "You'll have to tell me all about those times later. In private of course," she assured Severus when he opened his mouth to protest. "Though I hear you could probably tell me about some of those moments, too."

"I'd rather not," he forced out, shooting Lucy an irritated look.

"Don't worry," Lucy comforted her old professor, "I can tell her. I'm sure it was rather more interesting on our end anyway. So did Dinah tell you about the party?" she asked Severus eagerly.

"She told me something about much-too-early planning if that's what you're asking me," Severus smirked.

"Oh, you two. I _know_ it's really early to start planning this party, but it's a big birthday and….and I _need_ to do this," she finished the last quietly, not wanting to confront the possibility of being interrogated about her past soon.

"Lucy?" Dinah didn't seem to miss her tone, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Lucy said. There was no need to worry Dinah over something she couldn't help with. There was nothing for anyone to do at the moment. She shook her head, "I probably just need to eat is all."

Dinah nodded and the threesome started heading back towards the Three Broomsticks. They tried to avoid the larger crowds and stuck towards the edges of town, making a large detour around Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes where many students liked to congregate.

"Lucy!" a distinct male voice called from behind them.

She stopped walking. Lucy could feel the blood drain from her face and she thought she must have stopped breathing when she started to feel faint. When she could think again, she shook her head, murmuring, "No," and taking a couple steps forward before the person called again.

"Lucy Anne!" He sounded angry this time.

She stopped again, latching onto Severus and Dinah's arms. Somewhere along the way they had shifted from next to each other to walking on either side of her. At the moment she was glad for it. "I can't," she said, looking up at Severus and thinking he might have recognized the voice too, "not today."

A snarl had formed on her former Potions professor's face, but Lucy wasn't frightened by it because she knew it was not for her. Some sort of determination flashed in his eyes and he seemed to make a split decision as his hand landed on her shoulder and he moved so that he was at an angle, meeting his wife's gaze with the briefest nod, and Dinah responded with the same gesture, looking a little shocked but seeming to understand what was going on.

"Move forward," Severus ordered, gently pushing Lucy further from the horrible voice. She obeyed, stepping away from Severus as his hand released her and next went for his wand, as he and Dinah moved to stand next to each other, the couple presenting a united barrier between her and her father, both of their wands in their hands at their sides.

"Good afternoon," Severus said coldly to the man Lucy could not see very well past her two friends.

Henley barely acknowledged the two people standing in front of him. He wasn't tall enough to see over them and leaning to see around them would have been…undignified. Instead she saw him stretch up as tall as he could manage to see over their shoulders and try to catch her gaze. "So, you went and did it then? Married that conniving murderer Black. I got to read about that in the _Prophet_."

"Maybe you _should_ have sent him a post-wedding letter or something like we talked about," Dinah murmured hesitantly back to Lucy, seeming worried.

Obviously, somewhere along the way Dinah and figured out who exactly Henley was. After all, who else could it be? Dinah wasn't stupid and though Lucy would hate to admit it, she and her father did share a chin and were of a similar body type. From what she could see though Henley was no longer the slim man she remembered from before.

"From what I saw of you earlier," Henley continued, "you've followed in your mother's footsteps. We had a good life together until she got pregnant."

Lucy gasped. It wasn't the first time she'd heard something like this, but that didn't make it hurt any less. A part of her wanted to lash out at her father, maybe it was her maternal instincts attempting to protect her own child, but it was still more desire to defend herself then she'd ever felt before. Unfortunately her younger self, the one that just stood there and silently took his insults, even partially believing them, was still stronger than her desire to lash out.

"Did you now?" Severus's tone was icy. It almost made Lucy shiver.

"Yes," Henley spat at the other man. "Now, if you will please excuse me I'd like to speak to my daughter without the two of you rudely standing between us."

Severus did not budge.

Lucy raised a shaking hand and put it on Severus's shoulder, "It's okay," she said, almost whispering.

He met her gaze from the corner of his eye, gave a brief nod, and stepped aside, allowing her to squeeze between himself and Dinah.

"I am happy," she said slowly, predictably with tears in her eyes, "I wish Mum could have been the same."

"I'm not here about your mother," he ground out, "You, my dear, are making a spectacle of yourself as usual. I've _heard_ that your little…episode is about to be splashed all over the papers." At this point he reached out to try and grab ahold of her arm.

Dinah and Severus both moved at once, the former grasping Lucy's shoulders and moving her out of the way while the latter latched onto Henley's arm and shoved him forcefully back, his wand raised against the other man.

"I can't…I don't…I…" Lucy stammered. Her breathing was starting to come in quick, shallow gasps and she was forcefully reminded that she couldn't afford to panic, to get overly stressed about Henley's presence and his words.

"Obviously, you still need their help," Henley said, wand out and pointing at Severus.

"No. I…I want to go home. I-I-I-" Maybe she really did need more help. She certainly couldn't seem to string two thoughts together.

"It's okay," Dinah said softly, trying to be reassuring.

Severus, on the other hand, was furious, "Henley Ketteridge, you are a sick bastard!" he snarled, adjusting his wand so it was pointed more clearly at the man, "Standing there and treating your own daughter like dirt for no legitimate reason. You have no right to come near her or speak to her. You never have!"

"You, Severus Snape, have no call to be telling me how I can and cannot treat my daughter. She's done nothing these last few years but cause herself embarrassment and now that insane Black fellow has taken advantage of her."

"No," Lucy shook her head, "he loves me."

Severus snorted, twisting his wand hand a little, "Take... advantage... indeed. You only care about that because of what it might do to your own reputation, isn't that right?"

"Well," Henley blustered, backing away from Severus's wand, "I don't think that's the point. Someone needs to take care with _Lucy's_ reputation. You might have noticed she wasn't able to keep her last job for long and it seems she's about to be out of another."

This time Lucy could only manage a little squeak of distress.

"If you had even an _ounce_ of intelligence you'd realize that any issue Lucy has is a result of _you _and your disgusting treatment. Now..." he took a menacing step forward, "I hardly think you would enjoy being afflicted with the Cruciatus curse, so-"

"Severus!" Dinah chided, her attention swiftly shifting to her husband. She put a hand on his arm and shook her head 'no'.

Something changed in his expression and he lowered his wand slightly, turning back to Henley, "The _point_ is that you are obviously too stupid to see how your treatment is the source of all of the problems you cite."

"And I'm sure you have lots of experience with such 'treatment' as you put it Snape," Henley said, taking two or three steps back from the taller man. "However, I have no wish to entangle myself with _any_ Death Eater, not even for my daughter. She's not worth it," Henley threw in before scurrying away.

Severus looked about ready to shoot a curse after him for his last comment but Dinah grabbed his arm again to stop him. He growled a little, but lowered his wand and stuffed it back into his robes, muttering, "If anyone is worthless..."

"I want to go home," Lucy repeated, slowly becoming aware that she'd started crying.

"Let's go home then," Dinah said gently, "Hogwarts or Hogsmeade?"

"Hogwarts," she said, wiping at her cheeks, "I don't…if he's watching. I don't want him knowing about the house here if I can help it. But…we're supposed to be watching the students."

"I will speak to Minerva," Severus said, putting a hand on her shoulder for the second time that day, although just briefly, before he disappeared towards the throng of students to find the headmistress and explain the situation to them, leaving Lucy with Dinah.

"You want to start walking ahead?" Dinah asked, "Or would you like to sit down and get a glass of water or something?"

"I promised Poppy I'd sit and eat a proper meal, but I don't want to be here anymore," Lucy shook her head, "Maybe we could go slow." She sighed, rubbing a hand over One. When she felt a reassuring kick against her hand, she smiled. "We're okay," Lucy murmured and looked over at Dinah, "I hope you're okay? He didn't upset you or anything?"

"I'm more worried about you than him," Dinah said, but looked a little relieved at Lucy's smile. "I still... I never imagined... well, we'll talk about it when we get you back to your rooms. Oh. Severus," she nodded off to where her husband was again approaching them.

"Minerva has given us permission to return," Severus said with a smirk, "Which of course means leaving Slughorn in charge of the Slytherin students along with that infernal assistant. Perhaps someone can send Eugene off to that Wizard Wheezes shop and he can be afflicted with some prank product."

"Don't be sadistic," Dinah chuckled, turning to Lucy. "Ready to go then?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded and they slowly journeyed away from the location of that horrible confrontation.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

"So," Lucy said, as they entered her rooms and she dropped down into a chair. Dora looked torn about who to curl up with, but eventually settled on Severus as he had the most lap. "That was my father."

"I'm aware of that," Severus murmured dangerously, stroking Dora with apparently little attention to what he was doing.

Dinah sighed, leaning forward from her seat on the couch next to her husband, resting her arms across her knees, "He's horrible," she murmured. "What's wrong with him? Why would anybody be so...?" she didn't finish her sentence.

"I don't know," Lucy shrugged, "He's always been that way. Look, not that you would but I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Sirius. I mean, I'll tell him, just I want him to have a nice weekend before he finds out about it."

"If you do not want us to owl him, we won't," Severus said. "As long as you _do_ tell him later, you are free to dictate when and how."

"I will," Lucy assured him. "I just…ugh," Lucy groaned, "I was having a perfectly nice day. _Why_ did he have to come along and ruin it?"

"Does he come to Hogsmeade often?" Dinah asked, looking like she had already guessed at the answer.

"Not that I know of," Lucy shook her head, "I've never seen him there before, but I haven't even talked to him since…he took me to St. Mungo's. Unless you count the note I sent about the engagement."

"You did send a note?" Dinah asked, "Then what was all that rubbish he was spouting about the papers?"

Severus snorted, "He is an idiot, what more do you need to know?"

Again Lucy shrugged, "I only sent one about getting engaged. I never sent one saying we married." She rested her hands on her stomach, still comforted by the kicks she was feeling, "I didn't want him to know about this. This baby doesn't deserve someone like that."

"You don't deserve someone like that, either," Dinah said softly.

Lucy lifted her eyes to meet Dinah's gaze, a sad smile on her face, "Thanks, but what I deserve doesn't seem to matter. You know," she said, turning her gaze to Severus, "once I tell him, he's not going to want to leave my side."

"He already knows about the baby," Severus said, looking confused, "You think he will try to interfere in its life? I doubt it, given his behavior today..."

Lucy chuckled and shook her head, "I don't know about Henley. He'll probably only interfere with the baby as much as he does with me, which is only ever when it affects his life. But I meant when I tell Sirius about today he won't want to leave my side again."

"Perhaps if you asked him to let you go, he would," Severus said, still idly stroking Dora as if he didn't realize what he was doing. "The point should always be that it is your choice. You said 'not today', so Dinah and I tried to keep your father away. But when you seemed ready to confront him..." he didn't finish his sentence.

"We backed off then," Dinah did so for him, understanding lighting in her eyes. "That's right, Lucy. _You _have to dictate how you want this to go. And we're at your side all the way. Explain that to Sirius and I'm sure he'll understand as well."

Lucy smiled at her friends, getting teary again at the thought that it was nice to know she had people who were ready to defend her but would also let her fight her own battles. Much as she loved the Weasleys, they didn't always let her do that, especially in recent years. "Yes," Lucy nodded, "I'm sure he would. I just meant…he didn't want to go _this_ weekend if I couldn't go with him. It wasn't so much that he doesn't think I can't fight my own battles. He's constantly telling me I can; how talented I am…It's more he doesn't want something to happen to me or the baby, especially with what happened after I got that stupid letter."

"I... have no answer for that," Severus admitted, apparently all out of useful advice he could give.

"Well," Dinah tried her hand at it instead, "Is it really so bad to wait it out until the baby is born? Or maybe it can be an incentive to work through this thing with your father. I mean, I _know_ you can do it. You tried today and that was a huge step. Once Sirius knows you're past that he'll worry a lot less, I'm sure."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Lucy smiled. "I…" she'd been about to respond more to Dinah when she became aware she was _very_ hungry. "I'm really hungry. Do you mind if I summon something up?"

"Oh, I'm hungry too! Or..." she paused, considering this, "Wait, I'm not sure..."

Severus heaved a dramatic sigh, "Four more months of this..."

"Three," Dinah corrected with a smile. "November is almost over."

"Fine then, three," he growled.

Dinah chuckled, "I'm about to start calling you my calendar, you know?"

Lucy giggled, "You two are cute. Well, I'm going to summon myself a meal. I'll leave you to do it when you're hungry," she grinned at Dinah. After a moment the meal appeared on the coffee table. Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, with extra pickles on the side and some crisps to go with it. "Mmm," she moaned, stuffing some more pickles into her sandwich, "This is weird I know, but it's _so_ good."

Dinah looked rather nauseous, "I... I'm _never_ going to have an appetite if you make me keep watching you eat that. Do you need us to stay or would it be all right for us to return to the dungeons?"

"I think I'll be fine," Lucy nodded, looking at her friend with some sympathy. "I'll probably just go to bed after I eat. I'm feeling all sorts of things at the moment and one of them is exhausted. There's a spare key sitting on the counter in case you want to check on me later and I'm in the shower or something. That way you don't have to worry. I don't want you to feel like you have to come over but I know you told Sirius you would so…"

"Well... we'll see," Dinah smiled as she and Severus stood, walking over to Lucy to bid her farewell, "Enjoy your meal. If you need anything, let us know."

"Thanks. I will," Lucy said, reaching up to hug her friend, "I hope the rest of the day goes better for you two."

"For you as well," Severus said, as he and Dinah turned to leave.

"Severus?" Lucy said, before they reached the door, quickly swallowing a bite of her sandwich. "I…I probably should have said something earlier, but…thanks…for saying what you did back there."

Severus paused and sighed, shutting his eyes briefly before meeting her gaze, "You're welcome."

"It did mean a lot," she tried to assure him, afraid she'd somehow upset him, "I suppose I should be used to him doing things like this but…" she shrugged, "Maybe this is a little dramatic but I kind of wish I'd had somebody to do that for me when I was a kid. The Weasleys knew he wasn't exactly loving towards me but I didn't tell them the things he'd say until after I left his house."

"Children often keep things like that from others..." he hesitated, "even though they should not."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "Well, thank you again. I'm sure I'll see you later."

"Have a good night," Dinah said, as she and Severus left Lucy in her rooms.

"That was… eventful," Severus muttered when he and Dinah finally made it to the dungeons.

"It was, but…" Dinah nodded, watching him cautiously. She had a feeling he was trying to live a little too vicariously through Lucy in this situation. She wasn't overly concerned about it, but… "The Cruciatus curse, Severus?" Dinah asked softly, placing a hand on her husband's arm.

He sighed, "I didn't plan on using it. I just wanted to threaten…"

"I assumed so, but… Lucy's father is not your own, you know?" she encouraged, rubbing his arm comfortingly.

Severus's eyes closed, but he was smirking a little, "I realize that, Dinah. I was only… well, you know," he waved her off, not going into specifics.

"I know," she moved a little so that she could hug him, surprised as usual lately to find that with her ever-expanding abdomen it was harder to press as close as normal and so she felt somehow… shorter, her head only barely reaching his shoulder when normally she could rest it there easily.

His arms circled her and held her tight, his cheek resting against her hair as his hand moved up to massage her neck, "Never leave my side," was all he said.

"I never will," she whispered, closing her eyes and pressing in tighter.

"I know."

* * *

><p>Sirius unlocked the door to his rooms Sunday evening. He'd had a good weekend with Harry and Ron when the latter had had free time.<p>

Inside the room was dark, the curtains had been drawn and Dora was winding around his feet, acting as if she were hungry. Going over to her food dish, Sirius saw that it was unusually empty. A flick of his wand fixed that and supplied the cat with fresh water, but a sense of foreboding settled in his chest. Surely if something had happened, Dinah or Severus would have owled him, but the flat looked as if it had been shut up all weekend.

"Lu?" he called, stepping silently towards the bedroom. Maybe she'd just gone to bed early…He found Lucy curled up in bed, hugging his pillow, silent as could be, just laying there in the dark. "Lucy?" he said again.

"Just hold me," she sniffled.

He climbed into bed behind her and held her, pulling her into him as best he could. Maybe she was just having a bad day, made worse by pregnancy hormones or something, but he was going to do his best to make her feel better. "You okay?"

"I need you to understand something," she quietly sniffed, "I don't _want _to talk about this. I don't want to think about it. I just want to ignore it and forget it ever happened, but I promised I wouldn't keep things from you anymore…"

"Okay," he said, cautious. He was happy she was willing to tell him about whatever it was, no matter how much she apparently wanted to hide, but he couldn't think of what would possibly have upset her like this. When he'd left his wife had been happily ignoring the Board of Governors and planning his birthday party…next month.

"I saw my father yesterday. He came out of nowhere. He started spouting off about the marriage, the baby…he said some awful things about you."

"People say things about me all the time," Sirius said, stroking her hair.

"He said that I needed more help, he tried to grab me and take me with him."

Sirius took his hand and turned her head so he could look at her face, "I hope you hexed him."

She shook her head, "I didn't have to. Severus shoved him away, threatened to use the Cruciatus curse on him…"

"Good," he said. The Snapes baby was definitely getting a really good present now.

"Sirius, I don't know if I'm going to want to go to Hogsmeade House for awhile. If Henley's hanging around…"

"We don't have to go," he assured her. "I can go check on the house by myself if you don't want to go. If you want to go I'll be right there. I won't let him touch you."

"I know, but Sirius? You'll let me confront him if I want to, won't you?"

Sirius hesitated. He didn't want to let her put herself in the position of getting hurt or letting Henley put his daughter into such a tailspin that she hid in bed all day. "Whatever you want," he grinned, repeating his catchphrase from when they'd been planning their wedding. His hand wandered down over her belly. Lucy liked to tease him about not wanting to touch their friends' pregnant bellies, but he couldn't get enough of Lucy's. One, as Lucy liked to call their child, got in a few well-placed kicks against his hand. "Have you eaten today?" he asked, taking in her pale complexion.

"No," she shook her head. "I know I should have, but I just didn't feel like eating."

"Maybe you should take some of Dinah's stimulant," Sirius teased.

Lucy giggled, letting him help her sit up, "Probably not. I eat just fine. I just…I don't like it when he shows up and ruins things."

"I know," he said, hugging his wife, "but we're not going to let him do that. We're going to be happy."

* * *

><p>Mid-afternoon on Tuesday Lucy was walking from her classroom to her office when she came across Severus strolling down the hall with Dinah. "Oh, Severus," she called, walking over to them and completely astonishing the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor when she hugged him tightly. "I just wanted to thank you again for Saturday. I don't know what would have happened if you…if neither of you had been there."<p>

"I-um-" Severus was very much taken aback while Dinah made a little 'aww' sound. Lucy didn't really expect Severus's arms to wrap around her and hug her back, but they did - very, very briefly, before he stepped back, "You would have done something, I'm sure."

"Likely panicked had he actually grabbed ahold of me, which probably would have led to preterm labor again…clearly my pessimistic side is coming out. I've never dealt very well with my father, but I'm trying. Sirius is going to support me if and when I feel ready to confront Henley. And, well, One is grateful. It's much nicer being all snug and safe."

"One... what?" Severus asked, looking baffled.

Dinah laughed, "She's been calling the baby One. Apparently she expects to have a number of them."

Lucy smiled a little, "Yes, a whole litter as Tonks likes to say. I don't know about a litter myself, but I'm thinking at least two. Anyway, I know it's not lunch but I'm hungry and was going to grab a snack during my office hours. You're welcome to join me if you want. I just wanted to say thank you again and…well, hormones you know."

"No, I have _no_ idea," Severus's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he gave his wife a look.

She blushed, "Oh, stop! I _know_ I wasn't eating well at breakfast this morning, but at least I ate half of it!"

"You should snack," Severus ordered, pulling her in the direction of the Great Hall.

Lucy giggled, "I suppose I'll see you later then. I've got some snacks stashed in my office so I don't have to miss office hours like I did last year."

"Oh, well I wanted to eat with you!" Dinah tugged her arm from Severus's, "I guess we just assumed you were going to the Great Hall."

"I'd like to but…" She couldn't admit to hiding from people, could she? It was unlikely that the students knew much of what was going on but she'd felt like everyone was staring at her during meals and had hardly left the flat without Sirius at her side. "I just figured with the Board of Governors sort of inspecting me or whatever you want to call it I should probably stick to my office hours, supervise some Hogsmeade weekends and the like. You can still join me though! I've got couches and comfy chairs and the house elves will bring us anything we want."

"They will be bringing plenty," Severus agreed, tugging Dinah instead in the opposite direction, "For the next three months."

"Looks like I'm snacking," Dinah teased, "My calendar insists."

Lucy gave them a gentle smile, "That's good of him." She led them to her office and summoned up an assortment of snacks before settling into one of her comfortable chairs. "Sirius took Ginny down to Hogsmeade so they could check on the house and owl Harry a letter. She could do it here of course but if they're going to be in Hogsmeade anyway…"

"You said you want to do more Hogsmeade weekends, then?" Dinah hesitated to ask.

"Yes," Lucy nodded, grabbing a handful of grape tomatoes, popping them into her mouth one at a time, "I don't really want to go there, but what else am I going to do? I can't avoid my home forever just because my father might show up. He could show up anywhere really. I won't be doing the next Hogsmeade weekend, I already talked to Minerva about that, but…I guess it's a small step in my choosing not to let Henley interfere in my life."

"Yes," Severus agreed, and then turned to Dinah, "You're not eating. Or would you like to take the appetite stimulant...?" he raised a challenging, almost threatening eyebrow.

"I'm eating, I'm eating!" Dinah winced, force-feeding herself some tomatoes and swallowing with a grimace. "See? Although I must confess I almost prefer forcing myself to eat over taking the stimulant."

"Yes, and I also think I'm starting to prefer its use as a psychological incentive rather than an actual treatment," Severus agreed, looking satisfied now that Dinah was putting food into her system.

Lucy laughed to herself. She really couldn't be _too_ depressed with these two around.


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: Thanks to thewrittenword87 for the review! Welcome to chapter 40 :)

* * *

><p>Chapter 40<p>

That evening Lucy was dozing on the couch while Sirius was working hard on the second part of Baby Snape's gift. "Sirius," she said, not bothering to open her eyes, "I think the first gift is plenty. Don't you? They'll appreciate the gifts I'm sure but anyone would think this is your child the way you're going."

"You just hush," Sirius said, the grin evident in his voice, "This is _my_ gift to them and I can do as much or as little as I want. It's a surprise for everyone and my way of thanking them for how good they've been to you the last couple years."

Lucy sighed, letting her arm hang off the side to stroke her very pregnant cat. Dora growled a bit just before Lucy felt a slight weight land on her burgeoning stomach. "What?" she asked, opening her eyes to find a smaller sized owl, who was not Pigwidgeon, standing on her.

"What's this?" Lucy asked, reaching out to take the letter. She untied the parchment from the little owl's leg and it immediately took off out the open window. Turning the letter over she saw the Board of Governors seal. "Oh," she said, her heart sinking.

She broke the seal, not wanting to see whatever it was that was inside. Of course she knew that ignoring the letter wouldn't make the problem go away and at least if she opened it and read the contents she'd be prepared for whatever challenge they were sending her way.

_Professor Black,_

_As you are aware the Board of Governors have been conducting an investigation into your rumored mental instability as well as called into question the poor judgment you displayed when you made it clear that you and your husband were expecting a child before your marriage. We have also received several letters from concerned parents, most recently regarding your week long absence from the classroom and the insertion of your own cousin, a Hogwarts student herself only last year, as a substitute._

_We have contacted Headmistress McGonagall on multiple occasions in an attempt to establish communications with you about this issue. Each time we have been turned away and told that you are not well enough to handle the stress of the investigation nor an interview. We feel it only right to inform you that this does not reflect well upon your situation._

_It is not our intention to alarm you in any manner but we are hoping that by bypassing the Headmistress and communicating directly with you that you will be willing to fully cooperate with our investigation and will allow us to schedule a time for a brief interview._

_We hope to hear from you soon._

_ Wishing you all the best,_

_ Hogwarts Board of Governors_

"Sirius?" Lucy called, "Sirius, you need to come read this."

He stood and came over, taking the letter from her. "Hmmm, Minerva should see this. They're trying to get around her by writing directly to you. They more or less even say that. You're Minerva's employee, not theirs. They can't disregard the Headmistress." He said that as if he really knew what the Board of Governors was allowed to do.

Lucy didn't say anything, just sat up on the couch causing Dora to waddle into the bedroom. It probably wouldn't be too much longer and they'd have a litter of kittens.

"We can talk to her about it the morning," Sirius said, watching her closely.

"What kind of cake do you want?" Lucy asked. She knew Sirius wanted to talk about the letter, but it…it was just too much right now.

"Any kind will taste great I'm sure. No matter what disease it appears to have."

Lucy giggled, "It won't look like it has any disease as I'll be making it with magic, but thanks for the vote of confidence."

Sirius leaned down and kissed her, "You're welcome. You ready for bed?"

"Mmm, yes," she grinned at her husband.

"Are you sleepy?" Sirius changed his question.

"Not really, but I'm getting rather used to just sleeping in our bed," she said, as he helped her up and led her to their bedroom for the night.

* * *

><p>Minerva frowned at the letter she held in her hands, "This…is troubling. My advice would be not to reply to this letter. They'll know you've gotten it of course, but perhaps if I write to them informing them <em>again<em> that I have not been arbitrarily making these decisions for you and that you are fully aware and in agreement with what I have been telling them…"

"We can't put them off forever," Lucy murmured, "maybe it would just be better to give them what they want."

"No," Sirius said, "They don't get to dictate how this goes. This is about you and your past, you get to say when."

"Exactly," Minerva nodded, "There is no reason they can't wait until the child is born. They are simply trying to intimidate you for whatever reason."

"Does it even matter? They clearly don't want me here. I don't know _why_ or what I ever did that would make them feel this way but it's not really worth it, is it? All this worry and stress," she glanced down to where her hand rested on her stomach. She hadn't felt any twinges or contractions since that first time, but…

"Of course it matters!" Sirius exploded, "You love teaching here. I see the way you look at your students, your face when you come home and tell me about how they've done that day. You can't just give up something you love without a fight. They're just trying to throw their weight around, control Minerva. Have they ever questioned the legitimacy of your class? Not that I recall. They're focused on you and St. Mungo's and the baby. As far as the baby goes they seem to have forgotten that you are not the first person to get pregnant before getting married. You haven't done anything that they likely don't already know about. And it's not like you've discussed our sex life with them other than to say you're having a baby. It matters," he said the last in a whisper, holding her face between his hands and kissing her.

"Well," she said, with a small smile, "I do like teaching. So much more than I liked being an Auror."

"That's it then," Sirius said.

Minerva smiled, "Yes, I suppose it is. I'll write to the Board regarding this letter and we shall go from there. I know it's nearly impossible but please try not to worry about this. I will take care of it. Perhaps the first challenge in a couple days will help take your mind off of it."

"Maybe," Lucy agreed, walking to the door with Sirius, "Thank you Minerva."

"You're welcome. Enjoy the rest of your day."

* * *

><p>"Professor!" Agrona called, looking thoroughly panicked as she rushed up to Lucy the night before the first challenge.<p>

Lucy was doing a quick check of the halls to ensure that the younger years were back in their common rooms before retiring for the night. Snuffles trotted alongside her, allowing Agrona to briefly pat his head when she got close. "What is it, Agrona?"

"I-I can't find Derwent anywhere! He was supposed to meet me in the library to study before curfew and he never showed up!" The poor girl was practically sobbing, but Lucy could sympathize. She'd likely have been in the same state after all.

"Oh, Agrona," Lucy sighed, having a good idea of just where Derwent was…or would soon be. "I'm sure everything's fine. Have you checked your common room? Perhaps he went to bed early?"

"Yes," Agrona insisted, as Snuffles sat down, preparing for a discussion that would last at least a few minutes. "He's not in the common room or in his bed and Amedeus says he hasn't seen him since after dinner!"

"It's okay," Lucy told her, "It's okay. Calm down. Just go back to your common room, study for a couple hours and go to bed. Everything will be fine."

"But-"

"Agrona, listen to me. Everything is going to be fine. Derwent will be fine. I'm sure of it."

"But how do you know?" Agrona asked.

"I can't say, but please believe me. Everything will be fine. The best thing you could probably do is go about your evening. It'll all make sense tomorrow."

"You mean…" Agrona thought about Lucy's words for a moment, "Does Derwent have something to do with Amedeus's 'treasure' or whatever it is?"

"I _really_ can't say. I haven't been terribly involved in the Tournament's challenges as a matter of fact."

"Okay," Agrona frowned, "I guess, I'll go back to the common room then. I can't keep looking for him, Professor Snape'd give me detention I'm sure! But if Amedeus doesn't find his stinking 'treasure' tomorrow, I'm going to kill him."

Lucy laughed to herself as the seventh year headed back towards her common room. Snuffles stood, bumping against her hand for a pat before the pair of them headed back to their rooms.

* * *

><p>The day of the challenge was crisp, kind of wet, grey, and not a terribly pleasant day to be out. That didn't seem to matter though as every student, faculty, and staff member appeared to be making their way down to the lake. Lucy hopped from foot to foot, standing just outside the entrance doors. Sirius held an umbrella above them with one hand while wrapping his Gryffindor scarf around her neck.<p>

"I told you to bring a scarf," he said, grinning at her, "And will you stop bouncing? You're going to end up falling down the stairs."

"Oh, I am not," she said, reaching up to kiss him briefly and slowing her bouncing, "I'm just excited. I've never been to one of these before. Where are Dinah and Severus? They said they'd meet us here! We're going to practically be the last ones to arrive and we won't get to see _anything_."

"We are not," Sirius insisted, before teasing, "Maybe they're busy doing what we would be if we could."

Lucy rolled her eyes, but didn't respond, just turned to watch eagerly for her friends to show their faces.

Soon they heard footsteps behind them and Lucy turned to see Dinah and Severus walking out the doors, Dinah smiling and hugging her husband's arm, which held an umbrella. She waved when they approached, "Looks like it might rain, huh?"

Lucy grinned, "Yes, it's a perfect day to be out on the lake. You two," she said, pointing at them, "are late."

"I told you why," Sirius muttered in her ear.

"Oh, stop!" Dinah blushed, waving them off, "We were arguing about how many clothing layers I should wear. I said very few. Severus said I'd get too cold and he was determined to prevent this problem after last year. I said he promised I could wear his cloak if I got cold. He said he didn't 'promise' anything but just said 'we'll see'. In the end, here I am ready to be cold and steal his robes!" she finished proudly.

"Three more months of this," Severus muttered.

"Sirius insisted the same thing. However, I walked out the door before he could argue me into another layer…which is why I'm wearing his scarf." Lucy stuck her tongue out at her husband before allowing him to help her down the stairs, Dinah and Severus following.

"Rather clashes with your usual Quidditch ensemble, doesn't it?" Severus raised an eyebrow at the Gryffindor scarf.

"And my hair too, I think," Lucy nodded, "but I'm willing to make the small concession since he's promised to eat whatever cake I make him even if it does look diseased. We decided not to have a family party though since the other staff members don't get to leave to celebrate birthdays with their families and it wouldn't be fair to them. I got enough breaks last year…I mean Sirius could go to the Burrow on his own if he wanted or even Grimmauld Place or wherever but…"

"You're quite chatty this morning," Sirius commented while Lucy just shrugged.

"Four more months of it!" Dinah grinned at Sirius, practically skipping up and flinging her arm around Lucy's shoulder, "Us pregnant women have to stick together! Now who's ready to get out there and watch these silly students complete their task so they can be shuffled off to task number two and all have the _same_ dragon!"

"She did this occasionally _before _she got pregnant," Sirius said, leading them down a side path that would take them to the boats.

"Oh, whatever," Lucy brushed him off, turning to Dinah, "I'm with Dinah on this one. I hope they can get three of the same dragon. Charlie wrote that they do have three Antipodean Opaleyes building nests and two Common Welsh Greens. Of course that doesn't mean they'll all lay but Charlie sounded hopeful they would."

"Wonderful!" Dinah exclaimed, looking absolutely thrilled and smiling warmly at Lucy, "You have no idea how much I appreciate your help in this. Charlie's too. I'm so glad you're putting up with me. Minerva says the Board of Governors are unsure but they're letting me make my point to the Ministry, and if they give it the okay... then I might get it put through. But I have to talk to Gawain today... can you help me with that?" she shot Sirius a brief, hesitant glance, "You don't have to, though, if you don't want to..."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Lucy said. She was slightly worried that Sirius would have a sudden bout of insecurity again, but she wasn't going to tell Dinah that.

Finally they reached the little boats that would take them out to the three large platforms in the middle of the lake. Sirius jumped in first and helped Lucy down into it before offering his hand to Dinah. "If you don't mind that is?" he asked Severus.

"Mm," Severus shrugged, stepping back and allowing Dinah to smile at him before turning the expression to Sirius, taking his hand and letting him help her into the boat. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," Sirius said, grinning as he held out a hand to Severus next.

"Don't press your luck, you infernal dog," Severus growled, stepping on his own into the boat as Dinah giggled.

Sirius just shrugged, "Shall I row or do you want to? Maybe we both should given the girls'…states."

"Sirius Lycurgus, are you calling us fat?" Lucy asked, hands on hips.

Dinah looked from Lucy to Sirius, "I think he just meant pregnant. At least I hope so," she looked self-conscious as her hands wandered over her stomach.

"Exactly," Sirius nodded, "It is hard for one man to row six people across the lake."

"Six?" Dinah's gaze flitted around, looking for these unnamed two other guests as Severus silently offered to take an oar.

"The four of us and two babies," Lucy explained as the boat left the dock. "The water's pretty rough today. Let's hope no one gets seasick."

Dinah smiled, "Maybe the Giant Squid will help with that. I seem to recall from last year that you and he are quite close," she told Sirius.

Sirius chuckled, "Somehow I think the Giant Squid's been asked to stay away during the challenge. That was the only time I've swam with it actually."

"That was…an interesting day," Lucy murmured. If she remembered right that was the day she'd learned of Dinah's parseltongue ability.

"Yes, it was..." Dinah smiled reminiscently, "Actually it was one of the best days of my life, once you told me that you didn't think I was evil, Lucy. After that I was ready to start moving forward."

"Apparently my faith in you was not enough," Severus said, but he was almost smiling.

"It was perfect, but you love me unconditionally," Dinah said, nestling her head into his shoulder, "I needed confirmation from another person. A friend. Before I could start to trust the rest of the world."

Lucy grinned and put an arm around Dinah's shoulders, "I think that might be a woman thing. I mean you were the first person I told about Henley and St. Mungo's who didn't already know about it, Dinah. It made it easier somehow, when I had to tell Sirius."

Dinah smiled, "Yes. See? It's good to have friends."


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: Thanks thewrittenword87 for the wonderful review! This chapter actually picks up right where the last one left off. The scene as I wrote it was a little long for a chapter here I thought and I tried to break it up as best I could. I'm not sure I succeeded since this new chapter continues the conversation that was happening in the last one. So, just as a warning you may or may not want to go back and look over the last chapter for a refresher. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 41<p>

"This sappiness is also a result of pregnancy?" Severus asked Sirius, brow raised.

"We can only hope," Sirius nodded, "We all know Lucy can be…emotional, but not usually so sappy."

Lucy stuck her nose in the air and ignored them as they reached the middle of the three platforms holding spectators. Spotting Gawain coming towards them on the platform, she hurried to ask, "Severus, would you mind helping us out?"

"I... no," Severus shook his head after taking a moment to register her request. He stood, climbing onto the platform and extending a hand out for first Dinah and then Lucy.

"Thank you," Lucy said, standing in front of him, "I didn't want Gawain to get here first."

Sirius exited the boat, wrapping his arms around Lucy in a possessive gesture as Gawain reached them.

"Good to see you all again," Gawain said, looking quite happy. "I hope you're all well? Minerva says the challenge is about to start and Madam Pomfrey has a couple chairs for Lucy and Professor Snape to sit on."

"Thank you," Dinah said politely, "I wonder if I might have a word with you, as well. Minerva and the Board of Governors have given me the green light to present a proposal to you about making some... adjustments to the next part of the Tournament."

"Yes, of course," Gawain nodded, "The challenge is going to start in a few moments though so perhaps it would be more prudent to discuss this afterward…in private?"

"Yes, of course," Dinah repeated, "Just you and myself or..." she left it hanging and Lucy wondered if she expected Gawain to want her around too.

"Oh, all four of you are welcome if you want," the man actually blushed before continuing, "I'm beginning to understand what it is to not want other men around the woman you love."

Sirius gave Gawain a suspicious look, but nodded, "We'll be happy to come if Dinah wants us there."

"You're all welcome," Dinah said. "I can handle it on my own if need be, but it might be nice to have backup. All right. Let's speak after the event. Is there a place you'd like to meet?"

"How do the main doors sound? We can go wherever you like from there."

"Fine," Dinah agreed, nodding, "I'll see you then."

Gawain nodded back at Dinah before disappearing into the crowd. Presumably making his way back to the other judges.

Madam Pomfrey, on the other hand, came forward to hurry them to the two chairs she had set up for them near the front of the platform. "Now, you two just take a seat right here. I can conjure up some footstools if you need to put your feet up. You, especially, need to be off your feet at much as possible," she said to Lucy then turned to Dinah, "Sitting down will probably help with any aches and pains you have, especially if your back's been starting to bother you."

Lucy, for her part, sat without comment. Her stubborn side wanted to be defiant and stand, but her logical side said she wasn't going to risk her baby's health for anything.

"Occasionally," Dinah admitted, resting her hand on her pregnancy, "But I feel okay for the moment. I'll be seated just as soon as they get into the water. I can see better from up here for now."

Over to the right, Lucy could see the three champions, standing there in their swim clothes and listening intently as Gawain explained the instructions to them. Amedeus, the lone male champion, looked ready to pass out or throw up…maybe both. She could see Agrona not too far away, looking anxious that Derwent would be returned to her.

A sudden, cold breeze rushed out over the lake, and Lucy wrapped her Gryffindor scarf tighter around herself, looking next to her to see that Dinah was decidedly shivering, her arms wrapped around herself as she looked pleadingly at her husband, "It's cold..."

Severus's brow raised, "Are you embellishing that so that you get what you want or are you _actually_ cold?"

She giggled, "I'm actually cold."

He smiled and spread the cloak of his outer robes, wrapping his wife in it and pulling her against him. Smiling, Dinah rested her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest as the couple looked out at the champions.

Lucy grinned to herself, snuggling into Sirius's side as he put a hand on her shoulder. The three champions lined up along the edge and, when the signal was given, jumped into the water. They had an hour to search for their treasure and Amedeus looked prepared for the task, using a Bubblehead Charm. Quite soon though, all three champions had disappeared below the water and Lucy was left wondering why she was so excited to watch this.

"Well, this isn't very interesting for the spectators is it?" Lucy asked.

"Not really," Dinah yawned, moving to settle into her chair, stealing Severus's robe in the process and leaving him only in his frock coat. Still, he wore so many layers that he didn't appear cold at all.

"Late night?" Sirius asked, grinning, "Enjoying that head start Madam Pomfrey gave you two?"

"Sirius!" Lucy blushed, "There are students around."

Dinah was also blushing happily as she pulled the robe tighter around herself, "I'm not telling." Standing next to her, Severus cleared his throat and appeared to take an extreme interest at the point in the water where Amedeus had disappeared.

Lucy sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head against Sirius, "Don't worry; I'm sure we'll catch up." After a few minutes, she lifted her head and tugged on Sirius's hand so that he leaned down close to her. "Hey, don't go getting all weird on me, okay? Just because Gawain's here…He doesn't love me and I don't love him. You heard him say he's just starting to understand what it's like to be in love. It's amazing…and not at all what he and I had. I could never imagine having his baby. I can't remember a time when I couldn't imagine having yours."

"Lucy…"

"There is nothing I can say…wait, yes there is. Gawain would never have fought me and fought for me like you have been. This thing…" she glanced at the Snapes for a moment, "with the Board of Governors? He would have urged me to comply with whatever they wanted. You fight me. You don't let me do things that I don't really want to do. You fight for me. That's not him and it's exactly what I need."

"Lucy, I love you. Nothing's going to change that."

"I know but…" His kiss quieted her.

When they broke about Lucy noticed Dinah smiling, and Severus smirking at them.

"Dinah," Lucy decided to tease a bit, "doesn't that man over there look a lot like Dylan?"

"What?" Dinah snapped to attention and her head literally shot over to the other platform, her eyes shifting back and forth over it to try and figure out where Lucy was gesturing. Amusingly, Severus was doing the same thing. "I don't see any... wait a minute! Do you even know what Dylan _looks_ like, Lucy?"

"Um, I believe he's blond and apparently looks a great deal like your cousin Larry." If she had to be on restrictions, which by this point she was actually getting used to, Lucy figured she might as well get some amusement by messing with the Snapes.

"He doesn't look anything like my cousin Larry!" Dinah retorted, flushing with indignance, "Why would I date somebody that looks like my cousin? Severus only assumed that because all he knew was the same as you, that he was blond. And since when do all blond people look alike?"

"Oh, they don't," Lucy assured her, "but I've noticed a lot of gingers tend to look alike."

"That's because you're related to most of them," Sirius grinned.

"They don't either," Dinah said, still looking a little huffy, "If they did then_ you_ would look like Lily Potter!" she said with an accusing point at Lucy. For some reason this elicited a snort of laughter from Severus, who apparently found the idea highly amusing.

"I just meant the Weasleys. As far as I'm aware the only things Lily and I share are Sirius, Harry, and our hair color." She wasn't sure exactly what was causing Dinah to react this way but maybe messing with them hadn't been such a good idea.

Severus seemed to notice his wife's mood and put a hand on her shoulder, "If you like, we can move elsewhere and escape these invasive individuals."

Dinah grimaced and looked about ready to agree with his suggestion.

Lucy felt her eyes grow large, becoming truly upset, "I wasn't trying to be invasive! Infernal, maybe, but not invasive. I was teasing!"

Sirius took her hand, muttering, "Hormones, Lucy."

Dinah and Severus turned to look back at her, the former blinking a couple of times before sighing, "All right. I suppose I must be a little moody, too. You just seemed so intent on picking on us for no reason."

"No, no," Lucy insisted, "It was just the thing with Gawain and…well I guess everyone gets a little insecure when confronting your spouse's ex."

"I would not," Severus protested stubbornly.

Dinah just smiled at her husband before turning to Lucy, "Have _you_ met any of your spouse's exes?"

"Um, well, no. I'll admit that makes it a little different on my end," Lucy blushed.

"To be fair I was imprisoned for twelve years, on the run for a year, hidden in Grimauld Place for another year, and then dead for two," Sirius said.

"That doesn't mean you didn't have girlfriends, just none recently," Lucy frowned.

"I've had five serious girlfriends. Four of them I dated for about six months…the fifth one I married."

"That's a lot," Dinah grinned.

"Well," Sirius said, looking smug, "I was quite the popular fellow at school. James and I both. Though James was pretty stuck on Lily."

"Hmph," Severus snorted, "I think we all knew that already."

Dinah sighed, "No offense, Sirius, and I might be a little biased, but I have to confess that you both just seemed more obnoxious than anything in the pensieve scenes I saw from those days. Granted, I think Lily thought the same for a long while."

"She did and we were. We matured a great deal after leaving Hogwarts. I even thought about looking for a job, but with everything that was going on then…"

Lucy giggled, "You? A job? You practically choked when I said Minerva wanted you to take the Transfiguration job."

"Ah, well, that situation was completely different."

"What's different about it? I actually think you'd do wonderfully at the Transfiguration job," Dinah offered, ignoring Severus's doubtful snort.

"Before my mother was still alive and I needed the money. I know how that sounds, but I had no job, no money, just the Order and the house that I bought with the money from Uncle Alphard."

Lucy smiled, "It wasn't all that long ago that I had no job, no income, just the Order, myself. See? We were made for each other."

Their conversation died down as, fifty-seven minutes after the champions had dove into the lake, someone…well two people were surfacing.

"Oh!" Dinah jumped up from her chair so she could get a better view again, pressing in close to Severus, "Can you see who it is? Can anybody tell?"

Lucy shook her head, not stopping to think that Dinah couldn't see her anymore. Madam Pomfrey and a few others, including the judges, gathered round the ladder to congratulate and tend to the swimmers since even early in the school year the water was still pretty chilly.

Minerva turned to the crowd and announced, "The first champion to complete the task is Nikolina Vastagh! She rescued Danail Cvetkov with extraordinary use of the _Spirare Subundis_ spell."

"Oh," Dinah's face fell for a moment at the fact that it was not a Hogwarts student, but quickly perked up and clapped enthusiastically, "She must have worked very hard. I bet she's proud."

"Idealist," Severus accused, scowling at the non-Hogwarts win and barely clapping. He nodded off into the distance, "And look who is thrilled over there. Someone should tell him that he works at Hogwarts now and should behave accordingly." He was, of course, referring to Eugene, who was apparently thrilled at Durmstrang's success alongside Petrov.

Lucy nodded, agreeing with Dinah, "Yes, that's a pretty complicated spell to learn. I'm sure Eugene would be just as happy for Hogwarts to win, but Durmstrang _is_ the school he grew up in Severus."

"Irrelevant," Severus scowled.

Dinah just shrugged, "It's Eugene, Lucy. You're not going to get much friendliness out of Sev."

"Give him, oh say thirty or so years, and he might be willing to entertain the thought," Sirius grinned, referencing their own, fairly new, friendship.

Severus snorted, "Although I find myself appalled at saying it, you are more forgivable than him."

"Hush," Lucy said, "someone else just came up." With the crowd around the ladder still from Nikolina's victory they couldn't actually see who it was, but Agrona's dash across the platform made it plain that Derwent had been rescued.

"Second place goes to Amedeus Flint, for his inspired use of gillyweed. Needless to say, though he rescued Derwent Lympsham with relative ease, Amedeus needs to remain in the lake until the gillyweed wears off," Minerva told the crowd.

Severus was clapping fervently along with the rest of them, but he was frowning, "Gillyweed again? I can only hope he somehow obtained it from Slughorn or Eugene..."

Dinah laughed, "I think we would have noticed any thieves this year, Sev, now that there's two of us. I wonder if he got any ideas from the Gillyweed heiress over here," she teased Lucy.

Giggling, Lucy rolled her eyes, "Yes, I inherited a huge store of it from my great-grandmother Elladora. Old books and old weeds, yep that's what she passed down to her descendents. I actually have no idea where he got it from, though I wonder if he remembered Harry using it in his own Tournament."

Somewhat ironically given her name, Oceane St. Martin of Beauxbatons was last to emerge from the lake. She'd used the bubble-head charm fairly well, but apparently was not the best of swimmers which delayed her journey to her own 'treasure'.

"Oh," Dinah said sadly as she clapped, "I feel bad for her." She laughed when Severus let out an exasperated sigh and pressed his forehead into his hand. "Oh, come on. I mean, you have to admit it must be sad to come in last."

"I admit nothing."

"With a name like Oceane you'd think she'd have learned to swim well, but who knows what she encountered down there too," Lucy said, agreeing with Dinah.

Dinah nodded, "Yes, I'm glad I'm not doing any of this. They're all very impressive, really, to be doing it at all."

"I'm glad neither one of you are doing it," Sirius said.

"We'd probably be disqualified given our current states," Lucy grinned.

"Or we'd win automatically because they felt sorry for us or were ridiculously impressed that we would even try," Dinah grinned, "Though I'm sure there's a 'no-pregnancy' rule. Well, maybe I'll ask Gawain to change that rule too while I'm talking to him about dragons, how about that?"

"The longer you're pregnant the stranger you behave," Severus muttered, "Am I still to endure three more-"

"No!" Dinah shoved her hand in front of his face and he gave her a look, "No calendar. We don't have time right now. It looks like everybody is starting to head inside."

"Or at least to the boats so they can get to shore," Lucy smiled at her friend, "Does Severus get to help us in this time and Sirius helps us out? You know, to be fair," she asked as she stood and they started towards the little boat the men had rowed across the lake earlier.

"You know how I feel about fairness," Dinah beamed, obviously in a much better mood than she had been in earlier. That was, until Sirius jumped into the boat and held a hand out for Lucy, "What? No, you got in too soon! Lucy just said to be fair, weren't you listening to your wife?"

"It's fine, Dinah," Severus rolled his eyes, placing a hand on her back and gesturing to the boat, before stepping ahead of her and helping her inside, "Let's just get back so you can speak with Robards."

She sighed, "Well, now the only way to make it even is for you to help me out and Severus to help Lucy out when we get to shore," she said, still glaring at Sirius for his offense.

"Sorry," Sirius grinned sheepishly, "I'd just like to get going so that…"

"Hello. Mind if I join you?" Gawain asked from the dock, "We can get started on that discussion of yours, Professor Snape, and don't have to worry about trying to find each other in this crowd."

Lucy could hear Sirius's low growl of annoyance behind her.

"Oh, well_ I_ don't particularly mind..." Dinah said hesitantly. Next to her, Severus looked annoyed but didn't say anything one way or another.

"It's fine," Sirius sighed and Lucy was proud of the way he accepted Gawain's presence. He wasn't thrilled and it was rather obvious, but he hadn't thrown Gawain off the boat or grabbed Lucy and started snogging her or anything ridiculous like that.

"So," Gawain started, sitting in the bow of the boat facing the rest of them. "You wanted to discuss some dragon issues regarding the second task?"

"Yes," Dinah said, "Specifically, I was hoping to be able to change the format of the task itself. Minerva and the Board of Governors have, reluctantly," here she frowned, "given me the go ahead to address you and the Ministry about this proposal of mine."

"Well, I normally don't have much to do with this, I'm head of the Auror Office you know. Corvus Eastchurch is the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports now, but he had some sort of family emergency and went on leave for the time being. I'll be happy to do my best for you though. After all, if Lucy didn't think it was a worthwhile idea she wouldn't be sitting here."

Lucy chose not to mention that she'd really had no choice, instead she said, "I've had very little to do with this. It's Dinah's plan. I mean I think it's a good plan and all, but Dinah came up with it all on her own. I haven't been involved in any of the meetings actually."

"She _has_ helped, though," Dinah was quick to mention. "She's been in contact with her cousin Charlie Weasley for me, and he has been most helpful as well. I was hoping to be able to arrange it so each champion faces the same species of dragon, or at the very least dragons with the same or similar temperaments. I don't believe it's fair to randomly assign champions to different dragons when one could easily be so much more challenging than another. It really makes no sense to me why anyone would have it that way in the first place."

"As I understand it," Gawain said, rubbing his chin, "that was the only way they _could_ do it. At least up until the last Tournament. The dragon reserve in Romania was quite small back when the Tournament was canceled."

"Well..." Dinah balked a little bit at this information, "That's... I suppose that makes sense, but it still doesn't seem right. I mean, the difference between the Hungarian Horntail and the Swedish Short Snout are quite extreme." For some strange reason, when Dinah said 'Swedish Short Snout', Severus, who had been staring out at the water with his usual grumpy expression while rowing, turned to look at his wife with an expression of anticipation or amusement. But obviously he didn't see what he expected to because soon he was glaring out at the water again.

"Yes, that is rather unfortunate," said Gawain, apparently not noticing Severus's strange behavior, "One would expect though, that all seventh years had the skill required to deal with a dragon in an appropriate manner."

"That is not the point," Dinah said firmly, "You cannot compare the students like that. It would be like an... eating contest and giving someone a couple apples and somebody else a plate full of very tough dragon steak and naming the first person the winner..." she trailed off, apparently dreaming about food, and this time Severus wasn't the only one giving her weird looks. "Ah, at any rate," she cleared her throat, "How can you name someone the winner if they are the one that didn't really have much of a challenge, at least in comparison to the others?"

"I can see your point," Gawain said, as the boat bumped against the shore.

Gawain disembarked and Lucy turned to see Sirius frowning. She knew what he was thinking about. If he let Severus out first then Lucy would be standing on shore with Gawain, but if _he_ got out first then he'd be standing next to Gawain himself. Neither seemed like a pleasurable option to him. Sirius had promised not to get weird on her, but that didn't mean there wasn't still some jealousy going on there.

In the end Sirius leapt up on shore and held out his hand for Dinah.

"You did it right this time!" Dinah praised, grinning at Sirius as she accepted his offer. Severus just rolled his eyes and climbed out next, offering his hand to Lucy as previously ordered.

"Thanks," Lucy said, before moving to take Sirius's hand as the five of them walked up towards the castle.

"I suppose then that you'd also like us to make the Lake challenge more fair so that champions who don't swim as well have a better chance too?" Gawain asked. He wasn't always the most diplomatic of people.

"Ah," Dinah made a rather indignant noise and stopped in her tracks to glare at Gawain. But it was Severus's snarl that really seemed to make Lucy's ex-boyfriend nervous, "_No_, Mr. Robards, I do not want you to do that at all," Dinah snapped, "Honestly, why doesn't anyone understand? Just because I'm an idealist doesn't mean that I'm always wrong! And the lake task is an entirely different story. The_ point_ is to separate the students based upon their abilities, not the attributes of whatever environment they are placed in. _That_ is where the 'control' part comes in. If they are all in the same lake that is a control. If they all have different dragons, that is not. It is perfectly logical, thank you very much."

"Well, yes, um, that is…well," Gawain hesitated, "I'm not saying you're wrong. No, no. I only mean that there is no way for everything to be completely fair. Even dragons within the same species can have different temperaments. Like wizards."

Dinah let out an exasperated sigh and rested her forehead in her hand, "Again, no one listens. I realize that not everything is fair. I am not stupid. But a Hungarian Horntail and a Swedish Short Snout, again, too extreme. That's just the example I use, but why _not_ use all the same dragon species? Besides, Charlie Weasley apparently has three Antipodean Opaleyes that would be just right for the job. You can talk to him about it."

"Um," Lucy whispered to Dinah, "He's not going to want to do that. They had…words a couple times during our relationship."

"That won't be necessary," Gawain said, backpedaling, "I merely wanted to be sure that you weren't asking for something impossible. As long as similar dragons are available I don't have a problem using them. I, myself, can't change the rules but I'll have a talk with someone in Corvus's department, of course."

Dinah sighed and smiled, though it didn't seem as natural an expression as it could have been, "Thank you. I'd appreciate it if you would. And would you mind owling me what you hear from them, or having them owl me. I want to know what my next steps might be."

"Yes, of course. I think…I think I'll just go see if Minerva needs anything. It was lovely talking with you. Good to see you again, Lucy," he nodded to her as he left, not waiting for them to say good-bye.

"And now you know why we didn't last. He's not a bad guy; he just doesn't think things through before he says them. Grant you I can do that at times too, but…"

Dinah's smile had rapidly returned to a frown, "Yes, I can see that. Still, it's really not just him, is it? Nobody takes me seriously. I said 'next steps' because I'm fairly certain I'll still have to make my case to about a million people before they start really listening. I mean, I am _only_ trying to address one issue. I could complain about a lot more if they really wanted me to, but I'm_ not_ because I am a reasonable person, even if I _am_ excitable. I mean, really, if I wanted to I could complain about the dragon task in and of itself. Do you realize how cruel it is to take these poor nesting mothers and make them believe someone is stealing their eggs - after somebody already did steal their eggs? Even though they're going to give them back, it's still not very nice." Her hand drifted over her abdomen, "I mean, it would be like when Poppy was telling you about what might happen as a result of your pre-term labor, Lucy. That can't be enjoyable. Poor dragons. And yet I'm going to back off and let somebody else handle the animals issue. I can pick and choose my battles, see?"

"Yes, you certainly can," Sirius said, rubbing his cheek. The one Dinah had slapped nearly a year ago. "You could have slapped him. I wouldn't have minded."

Dinah flushed a little again, "Yes, well... part of me did want to... but I think I'll try to save all of my violence for people like Filch and Rita Skeeter... people I _don't_ need to keep on my good side."

"Filch can be amusing at times," Lucy grinned, trying to lighten the mood, "He caught us sneaking out of that little winter room late Sunday….early Monday morning after the wedding. He looked like he wanted to scold us but we're not students so he really couldn't. Plus, when you guys set up that little present, which I absolutely loved and adored, no one left us any clothes. So…"

"No, we weren't running through Hogwarts naked," Sirius said, before either Dinah or Severus could say anything.

"Oh, no, not with students around, no. My dress was only done up enough to keep it from falling down, neither one of us were wearing shoes…it was quite amusing really."

Dinah grinned, "I do like anything that throws that man for a loop." She sighed, "Well, I guess now I just wait to hear from Corvus or whoever."

"Yes, and I believe you've had enough excitement for one day," Severus said, speaking for the first time since they'd gotten on the boats ages ago.

"Don't patronize me," Dinah said with a glare at him, "I'm fine. You of all people had better take me seriously."

"We have been over this," Severus said, glaring right back, "I do take you seriously. And we have _also_ been over the fact that I care about this baby and you should as well. And I say you need to relax."

"Fine," she growled, but seemed to submit to his order, turning a shrug to Lucy, "I guess I have to relax. See you at dinner maybe?"

"Most likely," Lucy nodded, "Especially as I'm not allowed to 'relax', just rest."

Severus cleared his throat again and Dinah's face took on another flush, "I'm not sure that's what he meant by relax this time. But maybe if I rest first I can weasel some out of him before dinner. If I can manage to get into the mood again."

"Enough!" Severus snapped, grasping her arm, "Have you completely lost your ability to censor?"

"Uh, maybe," she bit her lip, "I guess we'd better go."

Lucy grinned, waving them away, "We'll see you later."


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Lucy was in a more somber mood the next day when she woke up. Her mind had returned to trying to figure out _why_ Henley had been in Hogsmeade at all and thus she hadn't been able to sleep and was forced to take that sleeping potion of Severus's.

Things started to look up though when Dinah insisted they all go on a 'traditional winter picnic'. Just yesterday it was only mildly chilly and the champions had swum for an hour in the lake. Today it was downright cold and felt as if it could snow. Lucy didn't mind, she liked snow, but she refused to eat on the ground when she couldn't get off of it under her own power. Sirius fixed that problem though when he brought along four chairs and a couple little tables for them to use.

"Before we're seated, though, since we can't access each other as easily from chairs, we need to have a toast with our HOT COCOA!" Dinah announced triumphantly, in a much better mood than yesterday, as she raised her glass into the air.

Everyone smiled and raised their mugs, but when Dinah's approached her lips she suddenly paused, an odd look coming into her gaze as she glanced to her left at Severus. He, similarly, was holding the mug just a bit in front of his face. Meeting her gaze, he raised an eyebrow and gave an almost imperceptible tilt of his head. Their eyes shifted a few times from each other back to their cocoa.

"What?" Lucy asked, "Something wrong with the cocoa?"

"Eh... no," Dinah said with a little laugh, "Not theoretically, anyway. Let's drink." They all imbibed their beverages, Dinah and Severus with an odd sort of caution.

The warm chocolate slid over Lucy's tongue and she thought, by far, Hogwarts had the best hot cocoa there was. "This tastes just like I remember from my school days."

Dinah laughed, "Funny you should mention school days," she looked Severus up and down, and he her, before she finally said, "You look the same."

"As do you," he agreed, his lips twitching into a slight smile, "Although... it's almost unfortunate in a way..."

"Almost," she agreed, before decidedly launching herself into his arms, which wrapped around her immediately. They both smiled as they held each other, acting awfully cuddly even for being in Lucy and Sirius's non-public.

"And cocoa makes people change appearance?" Sirius asked, clearly as confused as Lucy was.

Dinah laughed and turned to look at them, though she and Severus did not let go of each other, "It does when Gellert Grindelwald sneaks a youthening potion into it."

"Ah, yes," Lucy nodded, understanding, "We were in Hogsmeade that day if I remember correctly."

"Yes, and it was a winter picnic... the first time I tried to have one with Severus, and the only real one we had up until now... though we ate outside a lot," she turned to smile at her husband and was rewarded with an instant kiss, surprising her. When he pulled away he was giving her an oddly solemn, insistent look. "I love you, too," Dinah whispered, kissing him again.

Lucy smiled at them. It was kind of nice being 'not-public'. At least it made Lucy feel less awkward around them when she and Sirius engaged in kissing.

"Lu," Sirius nudged her, pointing up, "look."

One. Two. Three. Then a fourth flake fell, landing on Lucy's scarf. "Snow," she sighed, grinning a little.

"Oh," Dinah smiled as well, holding her hand out to catch the slowly multiplying flakes, "How nice! Now we've got a whole beautiful white season to look forward to. And before it's over we'll have two new little companions to enjoy it with," she smiled as Severus held her tight from behind and their arms wrapped around her swelling abdomen. He smirked a little at the looseness of her scarf and tied it tighter around her neck, pressing a kiss to her temple as they snuggled and watched the snow fall from the sky.

"You know what this means?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," Lucy said, swallowing and trying desperately not to look like she was about to cry, "It means I get to watch Snuffles run around in it." She began chewing on her lip, contemplating what that would be like.

"I wouldn't do that without you. Running around in the snow is your thing. We can still walk in it though," he said, hugging her from the side.

"There will still be snow after the babies are born," Dinah assured her, "This is Scotland after all. Even in early April there might be snow."

"That's true," Lucy agreed, "There might be. This is just harder than I anticipated at times. There's just so many things I want to do that I can't. And on top of that," she said, lifting the hem of her robes, "Sirius has to tie my shoes."

Dinah giggled, "But don't you remember? Our men like shoes - oh... right..." she frowned and took a sudden interest in the lake.

"Yet another thing I can't do," Lucy shrugged, "And these shoes are hardly the type to inspire those kind of feelings anyway. They're flat, functional, and boring. And I'm depressing everyone."

"Then perhaps a change of subject is in order," Severus muttered, not having looked very happy from the moment the 'shoes' topic had been brought up. "You brought these chairs, Sirius. We should sit in them," he helped Dinah into her chair and sat next to her, but did not let go of her hand.

"I'm hungry," Dinah said.

"Me too," Lucy agreed.

"First things first," Sirius said, facing the remaining two chairs and transfiguring them into a loveseat. He sat down first, then pulled Lucy down next to him so that she could lean against him. "Well, as Dinah invited us on this thing I think it's her responsibility to pass out the food. I hope it's warm."

Dinah laughed, "You don't eat cold foods on a winter picnic, silly." She made a motion as though she was trying to get out of the chair and frowned, "Oh, now, come on. I'm not even_ that_ huge yet."

"Why are you trying to get out?" Severus asked.

"I want a loveseat, too."

"Then _ask_," he rolled his eyes, standing and helping her up before mimicking Sirius. When Dinah and Severus were settled again Dinah waved her wand and produced the food she had chosen. Piping hot bowls of chicken stew.

"Mmm," Lucy moaned, "I love food. Oh! I should make something special for the party next week!"

"More delicious cake, I hope. Can it be a white cake? With pudding?"

"And she means put the pudding _on_ the cake," Severus muttered, stirring his stew as he referenced an incident from over the summer.

"Oh, well I was thinking a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, but I can make two! Fortunately for you two, Ginny's off training with her Quidditch team for a few weeks before coming back here. So she won't be here for the party."

"Really, Lu, a small party's just fine. We're already meeting Harry and the Lupins in Hogsmeade that weekend."

"Last small birthday party we had was mine, remember?" Dinah asked.

"I remember you wore non-matching clothes on purpose," Severus said.

"And we watched a film!" Lucy added.

"And you fell asleep halfway through it," Sirius teased her.

"Whatever. It's a big birthday. You should have a big party."

"I'm going to remind you of that on your birthday."

"Go ahead, I'm only going to be twenty-seven."

"Goodness, I always forget how young you are," Dinah teased, devouring spoonful after spoonful of stew as Severus watched in amusement.

"I'm the eldest Prewett granddaughter," Lucy protested.

"Yes," Sirius nodded, "I'm sure that will make Dinah's Aunt Mildred more approving of our relationship."

"She's not that bad!" Lucy giggled, "She's coming to the baby shower after all. Though I'm sure it's mostly because Dinah's her niece and partly because we're having it in Hogsmeade."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Dinah said as Severus snorted, "If it has anything to do with romance or babies she's all over it. It doesn't matter who you are or where you live. Though, yes, relatives have it a tad worse. But you're my friend, so..."

"So I'm practically family," Lucy grinned. "Aunt Molly's so excited she's already gotten you one gift that I know of."

"Oh, they don't have to do that," Dinah said, blushing.

"Why not?" Severus muttered, "I would love to have any of the Potter or Weasley group fawning over _my_ wife for once."

"This isn't some kind of deranged contest, Severus. Give me your stew," she snatched his bowl from him and began eating it.

"Well, Aunt Molly is like Aunt Mildred in that respect. She adores babies. She did _not_ adore you," Lucy said, touching the tip of Sirius's nose with her finger, "that time in May when she and Severus walked in on me…uh, straddling you, with your hands on my bum. I believe there was some definite snogging going on too."

"Must you describe the whole thing?" Severus growled, snatching his bowl back from Dinah, "I think I remember what I saw without a verbal illustration."

"I could always describe the things you didn't see," Lucy teased, "For instance, if I remember right we head-tilted to the left, instead of the right and I think my tongue was–"

"Enough, you are doing that on purpose!" Severus growled, standing abruptly and taking his stew with him, much to Dinah's chagrin as she reached up with her hands to vainly follow the food.

Lucy laughed, "Sit back down. I promise I'll stop. You had to have enjoyed Aunt Molly giving Sirius hell over that though."

"I enjoyed the rare moments when someone was on my side about something, I suppose," he grumbled, sitting back down and allowing Dinah to take his stew and rest her head on his shoulder as she devoured the remainder.

In contrast, Lucy handed her mostly-finished stew to her husband for him to finish off. The snow was still lightly falling but it wasn't sticking to the ground yet, melting after just a few seconds of contact. Looking down at her robes, she started picking at a loose thread. She wanted to get together with the boy she thought of as her godson and with one of her best friends for Sirius's birthday, but she wasn't thrilled to be going back to Hogsmeade. It hadn't been that long ago that Henley had been there. "Do you think Henley's still in Hogsmeade?"

"No," Sirius said, brushing her hair back.

"Why was he there?" she asked the question that had been in the back of her mind for awhile now. "I don't…I'm not worth it to him. I'm really not. There was that article in the beginning of the year but if that's what made him seek me out, why wait so long?"

"I don't know," Sirius said, shaking his head, "but you've got to trust me when I tell you I won't let him touch you."

"I know but…very rarely do I feel like that little kid who just lost her mother and whose father thinks she's worthless. He makes me feel like that, but I don't know how to make it stop." Lucy started crying, unloading some of the stress she'd been feeling lately, "I feel like I'm stuck. I can't do this and I can't do that because it might hurt the baby and I'm okay with that, I _am_. Henley is one of those things I shouldn't be doing, but I can't just tell him to wait. It won't matter."

"Hey," Sirius said, pulling her closer, "you are not alone in this."

"I know," Lucy sniffed, "but I'm stuck. I want him to care, but I know that's never going to happen. I don't want to react to him the way I do but I can't help it because he really, really betrayed me at a time when I just needed someone. When Mum died do you know who told me? Aunt Molly. She hugged me and told me Mum still loved me and that someday it wouldn't hurt so much. Henley couldn't look at me for a month. I don't want him in Hogsmeade. I just want to live my life and not have to feel like this anymore."

"Lucy…" Sirius sighed.

"I know. Calm down," Lucy said, scooting down so that she could lay her head in his lap and curl the rest of her body around her belly as best she could. She now felt utterly wretched and the day had started out okay. Well, it had definitely been improving when they'd started this picnic anyway. "I'm sorry," she said, looking over to Severus and Dinah. "I had really been enjoying myself up until a couple minutes ago."

Severus was staring, a little disconcerted but not unfeeling, and Dinah's gaze had turned very sad, "It's okay," she said softly, "It's not your fault. You don't have to apologize."

"Yes, I do. I shouldn't be–" she cut off, closing her eyes and biting her lip.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah. One just kicked my bladder."

"One what?" Severus asked again, before sighing, "Ah yes, your naming system. It sounds odd when you say it, you know. As though you are referring to 'one' in the sense of an indefinite pronoun. It is confusing," he declared.

Lucy giggled, "Sorry, but it would make even less sense to start with Two wouldn't it?"

"At least I would immediately know what you were talking about," he frowned when Dinah shivered a little, and wrapped his arms around her, "I am sure these winter picnics are a lovely tradition but in your current state you shouldn't stay out here much longer. It is getting colder from the snow."

Dinah shook her head, "No, actually when it snows the air gets warmer. Due to the fact that the snowflakes need to give off heat in order to remain frozen."

Severus sighed, "Your Muggle science tidbits are always so fascinating, but you've still been out here too long. Lucy as well. We should go inside."

"But I like the snow," Lucy protested as Sirius stood and helped her sit up at the same time.

"Yes, but Severus is right. We should go in," Sirius said.

Lucy sighed, "Alright. This was fun," she said as Sirius helped her to stand, "I thought a winter picnic would be weird, but we got to be out while it snowed."

"See? They're fun!" Dinah beamed, allowing Severus to help her up. "I guess... it's a good thing we managed to have one before it gets colder and we get more pregnant. At some point, it probably won't be a good idea anymore..."

"Oh, I don't know," Lucy grinned, watching Sirius turn the loveseats back into chairs and levitate them back towards the castle. "We'll have to see when the time comes. Still, I'm glad I got to be out in the first snow."

"Yes," Dinah agreed, smiling up at the falling flakes, "The first snow is nice."


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Severus looked up from his lesson plan, watching as Dinah stormed through the dungeons again, this time from the bedroom back to the sofa, growling as she flopped down into the spot she had just recently vacated, returning to some parchments she was grading. He had no idea what she had been doing in the bedroom, but she had been restless and running back and forth from her parchments to various places for no reason for far too long, especially in her current state. Her abdomen was rounding more and more each day and was approaching the size of a Quaffle, or at least a Bludger, yet the rest of her figure remained slim. Still, he would not have his pregnant wife running around like a maniac for no apparent reason when she should instead be relaxing.

All he could do was attempt to get to the bottom of this sudden mood. She had been cheerful enough when coming back from the winter picnic, but by the time they had begun their respective work for the night she was in this agitated state. Even now, grading and snarling at her parchment, she seemed unable to sit still as she shifted around on the couch.

He stood from the dining table and walked around to the side of it nearest his wife, leaning back against it and folding his arms across his chest before arching an eyebrow. "You seem to be bothered by something," he said, slowly, making sure his voice dripped with as much sarcasm as possible. Perhaps indulging her fetish would put her in a better mood. If he let this go on much longer she might complain of a 'headache' tonight, and he couldn't have that.

Instead, she growled at him, "You noticed?"

"My, my. Hostile, aren't we?" He wasn't going to give up. He was getting into his groove, anyway. "It is not enough that your metabolism is snidget-like? You have chosen to flit around like one as well?"

"What's your point?" she demanded tersely.

"Additionally, you seem to have acquired a great deal of strength since earlier this afternoon, when you could not get up from a chair to demand to have it transfigured into a loveseat. You seem to be getting up and down out of that couch just fine."

"This couch is more springy. _What is your point_?"

"I am… aware of its springiness," he murmured, raising an eyebrow at her and getting a slight flush in return. That was a good sign. "However, you still aren't telling me what it is that is bothering you."

Dinah sighed, and her hostility seemed to deflate a little as she dropped her parchments on the coffee table and leaned back in the sofa, "I give up. I can't do this. I can't _think_. It's Lucy."

"Lucy?" He hadn't really expected that. "What about Lucy?"

"About her behavior at the picnic today!"

"I… wasn't aware that she did anything wrong."

"She didn't! I'm not _angry _because she did anything _wrong_, I am angry because of the circumstances themselves. Severus, that whole episode about her father… I've had it with all of this. It's like… since the moment I met her she's just been enduring one constant miserable traumatic experience after another. Sometimes I feel as though that's all I ever see. The poor girl never gets to relax. I want it to stop!" she emphasized her point by slapping the arm of the sofa.

Ah. His wife's ever-present empathy, then, was the issue. And yet her words bothered him. The girl had shown yet another random emotional display today and it though it was, as Dinah said, an almost constant these days, it was also _not _right. Not for that reason, anyway. Yes, she was an emotional individual, he was starting to resign himself to that, and sometimes she behaved in that way for what were, in his opinion, not conceivable reasons. Yet that was not the case today. Today she had a reason.

The issue with her father hit a bit _too _close to home for Severus's taste, but he was trying to keep himself more distanced, after the _Cruciatus _curse episode, and try to mimic his wife's empathy and see things from Lucy's perspective. Not that he had much talent at that sort of thing. But he was getting better at it, slowly, if he did say so himself. How couldn't he, surrounded by Dinah twenty-four seven?

"I agree that it is unfortunate. But there is little that we can do about the issue to make it stop, aside from what we have already done. Lucy has to come to some realizations. I did what I could at the village. However…"

"However, she is still, as she said today, afraid of her father. How, Severus? How, after Sirius and you and I and the Weasleys and everyone around her who are good to her is it still so easy for her to feel worthless? Why can't she stand up to the man? You try to toughen her up, but…"

"She's made strides, Dinah. She _tried _to stand up to him at Hogsmeade. I think… well…" he frowned. He didn't want to bring his own father into this, especially now that he was trying to step back, but maybe there were more things he could tell Lucy to convince her that…

"You think what?"

Severus shook his head, "I think… that rather than fight the feelings, she has to come to terms with and accept them as a part of her life, and then move on. You recall from last month…" he winced a little at the memory.

"Oh," Dinah said softly, "Yes, I do. Then, in that case, maybe if she knew…"

"Yes. Maybe." He was glad that Dinah understood what he was getting at without going into a long conversation about the issue. He was lucky. Incredibly lucky. Hopefully, though, Lucy's luck would _not _mimic his and wait until she was thirty-eight years old to decide to show up. Like Dinah, he did not want her to have to endure any more years of traumatic experience. He also hoped he wasn't turning into a Hufflepuff.

"But you wouldn't just bring it up to her, would you?"

"Obviously not," he felt his lip curl slightly at the notion. The girl had to come to him. He was _not _going to appear in her office for a heart-to-heart talk on the matter. He drew the line there. He was going to remain a Slytherin, regardless of Dinah and her ridiculous empathy, and its apparent influence on him.

His wife managed a slight smile, "Fine, I get it. I'm sure you'll have an opportunity though. Lucy is clinging to us all more and more these days. And yet, even if you _do _talk to her, even then it might not be enough. She can be so stubborn. We obviously can't do anything if she won't listen to us."

"Obviously."

"And I think she'll need to have a full confrontation with him to really come to terms with everything. A confrontation all on her own," Dinah seemed to shudder a little at the thought.

"When it happens, she will be ready for it."

"I hope so," his wife whispered, before looking up at him with shining eyes, "I just don't want her to be sad all the time, Severus. I feel like I still don't really _know _the normal, happy Lucy. And that's not fair. To me _or _to her."

"Dinah…" he sighed, feeling that little twinge in his chest that only she could elicit. She cried for others so easily. Everyone's pain was her own. He had never known anyone like her. But he was glad he did now. Luckily, she was not as emotional as Lucy, though, and recovered when he sat next to her and placed his left hand over hers, which she had clasped together on her lap. She gazed into his eyes with relief.

Merlin, she was beautiful. And she was actually his. Even now, it was sometimes hard to believe, and yet it was true and he knew that. Gently, he rested his right hand on the side of her face and leaned over to kiss her, needing those soft lips against his own, responding to him, needing him.

"The parchments," Dinah protested, rather feebly, her beautiful face flushed when he released her lips, "Your lesson plans."

"They can be finished later," he insisted, kissing her again. And as expected, she made no further protest. Right now, after her restless snidget behavior, she needed to relax. And what better way to relax her than this?

* * *

><p>"What's keeping them?" Lucy asked, tapping her foot as she sat on the couch the following Friday. "We said eight o'clock and it's…"<p>

"Eight fifteen," Sirius said, gently placing his foot on top of hers to stop the nervous movement.

"But they live in the same castle! And I made a cake! And it's your birthday, and…"

"You only made one cake and it looks quite healthy if I do say so myself."

"Well," Lucy said, distracted from her nervous chattering, "Dinah wanted a white cake and since you never said _what_ kind you wanted I figured we could have the yellow one tomorrow with the Lupins and Harry."

A precise knock had Lucy trying to jump up off the couch to answer it.

Sirius, however, got up first and put his hands on her shoulders, "I'll get it. You've been doing a lot of running around today. Sit there and relax."

"But…" she started to protest that it was his birthday and he shouldn't have to answer the door.

"It's my birthday and I want you to sit," he said before going over to the door to greet their guests. "Hello," he said, nodding to Dinah and Severus, "I would have told you to come in but I wasn't sure how well that would go over."

"I would have ignored it," Severus grumbled, not looking quite as enthused as Dinah to be at this celebration as the two walked in.

Dinah sniffed the air, "I smell a cake! It smells wonderful, Lucy! Let's do that first!"

"We could," Lucy said, crossing her arms, "but as I was just so eloquently told, it is his birthday and he wishes me to sit. Sit! Like I'm some sort of dog."

Dinah giggled, "Well, you know, you are, in fact, some sort of dog. At least when you can transform. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Mr. Other Sort of Dog," she grinned at Sirius.

"Mm, yes, Happy Birthday," Severus muttered, not making eye contact.

Lucy watched as Sirius shut the door and grinned at the couple. "Thank you," he said, "Why don't we grab the cake and take it over to Lucy? Then Lucy can give me that present she's been slaving over."

That made Lucy roll her eyes, teasing, "Sorry but you're not getting that present for another four months."

"What happens in four months?" Dinah asked curiously.

"I get to shove a tiny human out of me. Unless, like that book on the history of the Black family and Professor Slughorn suggested, I take the traditional family route and have myself sedated and the baby…'extracted'."

"I know you like traditional things Lu," Sirius said, "but please, in this one instance can we not go that route?"

"I wasn't planning on it," she assured him, "but my present is actually in the bedroom."

"Lovely," Severus muttered.

"Not _that_ kind of present. I cleared you off a shelf," she said as Sirius came over with the cake, "A bookshelf that is. And I put an Undetectable Extension Charm on it so you'll have plenty of room."

"You gave him a clear shelf as a present?" Dinah blinked, looking confused.

"Well, yes. I know it's not much but I've sort of taken over all the bookshelves in all our homes and I thought you'd like a place just for your books. I know you think I'm ridiculous with my books and this way you don't have to worry about messing mine up," Lucy shrugged, "I don't know, blame the baby, but I couldn't think of anything else to get you that you could actually use right now…"

"It's wonderful," Sirius said, sitting down and kissing her cheek, "stop worrying."

Dinah smiled and held out a card, "Well, it's probably more creative than our gift. You are quite difficult to buy for, really."

"Sorry," he apologized, opening the card so that Lucy could see what was in it too. "A certificate to the Three Broomsticks? Thanks. I'm sure Rosmerta is wondering what happened to us."

Dinah smiled, "That's what we were thinking, that you could spend some time over there together and get yelled at for public displays of affection some more. I actually considered a Madam Puddifoot's card but Sev wouldn't hear of it. Both because of what he knows you'll probably use the food for and because he didn't want to encourage either of you to make a joke about taking him to Madam Puddifoot's again," she grinned at her husband who was now glaring and growling at her.

Lucy giggled, "Well, if it were a Madam Puddifoot's card it'd have to wait a few months at least. But going to the Three Broomsticks….that'll be nice. Thank you." She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about how she didn't want to go there and run into Henley, but they were going to Hogsmeade tomorrow and if that went well…One step at a time, as Lucy tried to keep telling herself.

"Now that we've done presents, shall we do the cake? Dinah did want to do that first."

"Oh...cake?" Dinah asked, looking uncertain and uninterested when a moment ago she had looked ravenous.

Severus, for his part, went from growling to groaning and rubbing his forehead, "Not this again. Two and a half more months of this now?"

Dinah flushed, "Sorry."

"Okay," Sirius said, "so no cake yet. Anything you want to…Dora come here. Severus is not going to pick you up." Lucy's poor cat was far too pregnant to be jumping up on people now, but that didn't stop her from begging to be picked up.

"I'll do it," Dinah smiled, picking up Dora and placing her on Severus's lap before stroking her a few times.

Severus glared at her, "Why is it that today you appear so desperate to 'mess' with me while these two troublemakers are being perfectly reasonable?" he demanded, with a flamboyant gesture to Lucy and Sirius.

Dinah shrugged, "I don't know. Blame it on the hormones?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded in agreement, "hormones. Which is why you shouldn't be too aggrieved by my not messing with you, Severus. Honestly, it's my hormones making me all subdued and slightly grumpy."

"Of course it would have nothing to do with going to Hogsmeade tomorrow," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"You'll have fun," Dinah declared rather abruptly as Severus gave her a sideways glance, "After all, you'll be celebrating with all your closest friends who you don't get to see very often. It will be a good trip."

"Yes," Lucy agreed, feeling a little more enthusiastic about the trip with Dinah's encouragement. "It's the first time I'll have seen them since this happened," she said, motioning to her expanding stomach, "It's sort of like Harry's little brother or sister, isn't it?"

"Yes," Sirius nodded, "It's a lot like that."

Dinah smiled and nestled her head into the still agitated-looking Severus's shoulder. And yet, Dinah's husband was petting Dora rather amiably again without shoving her off of him. Though they both probably pitied the cat who was so huge she couldn't move very easily. "Lucy?" Dinah asked, stroking Dora along with Severus, "When approximately will the kittens be born again? Because I think you need to inform me so I can be here for the birth."

"And destroy all our hearing with your squeals?" Severus asked snarkily.

Lucy grinned, "Supposedly around Christmas time but I think she'll go early. I'm convinced she's either farther along than we think or she's going to have ten kittens."

Dinah laughed, "Well, we'll have to see about that. So... what did you want to do? Any special plans or activities?"

"I thought of a number of things. One included privacy but I can't do that. Then I thought of asking you to bring Twister over, but neither of us can do that. Maybe a film, but Severus doesn't enjoy those…We've got some Exploding Snap cards if you want to play that."

"We do have that game Fred and George sent us from their shop for my birthday. It's a new product so that should be interesting," Sirius offered.

"We don't even know what it _is_ or what it does," Lucy said, not too sure about that suggestion. Fred and George wouldn't have sent along anything too dangerous, but…

"Let's try it, it might be fun!" Dinah chirped.

"Speak for yourself," Severus growled, putting Dora down and standing up, taking a few steps away from the sitting area, "I will observe from a distance."

"Okay, as long as you're sure," Lucy said to Severus, waving her wand and calling the box over to them.

"Looks innocuous enough," Dinah said of the plain brown box when it arrived.

"Those are usually the worst," Sirius muttered.

"They are, um, experimenting with the idea of opening a 'backroom' in their Diagon Alley shop for more…adult items but I can't imagine them sending one to us," Lucy blushed.

Severus growled, "If you two can make an innocuous dessert shop into an "adult" shop I'd hate to see what you can do with an actual real one."

"Well even if they do," Lucy frowned, "It'd be weird…my cousins sending us a sex game." She opened the box to find an oddly-shaped board, three decks of cards, five dice, and seven player pieces. "Well, this looks interesting if nothing else and it's clearly designed for more than two people. Even if it were an adult game I don't think Fred and George would be encouraging us into that type of…well, you know."

"Yes, well, even so, with a board shaped like a blob of..." Severus frowned.

"Goop," Dinah supplied.

He smirked, "Yes... 'goop'... I still have no desire to go anywhere near it."

Lucy giggled, "I don't really blame you, Severus. However, Dinah, would you like to be the…piggy person with the spikey hair. I wonder if that's supposed to be Tonks. At least it's kind of cute if it is. Then we have this short, fat, frog person. Wonder who that's supposed to be," she grinned, having some idea. Oh, look this poor guy can't stand up 'cause he's missing a leg," she pulled out a rather beat-up looking wizard who was flailing about and fell down when she sat him on the board. "This must be his leg," she said, pulling a small piece out of the box and handing it to the little figure.

"I think this one's George," Sirius said, pulling out a piece that had a large dark hole on one side of his head. "And Fred must be the one in the top hat," the second piece looked nearly identical to the first, except for the top hat and second ear. "Then we have a werewolf and someone with a mirror for a face."

"Oh my gosh, that is so cute!" Dinah squealed.

"Amazing. And there are no animals involved either," Severus said with a touch of light sarcasm, covering his ears.

"Oh, hush! It's cute!" Dinah scolded, waving him off. "But who are the others supposed to be? Moody with the leg and Lupin, but... who are the frog and the mirror face?"

"Well, I _think_ the mirror guy might be Gilderoy Lockhart. He is quite full of himself. Even now that he's in St. Mungo's. And if Severus looks close enough I believe he'll recognize a certain Hogwarts High Inquisitor."

Severus leaned over slightly but did not take another step in the direction of the table. He scowled, "What do they want Dolores Umbridge in this game for? Or Gilderoy Lockhart for that matter."

"They must be the bad guys," Dinah suggested, "Because everyone else is a friend."

"Are they now?" Severus muttered, sarcastic again.

"I didn't say they were _your _friends," Dinah rolled her eyes, "Now be nice. So, how do we begin?" she asked, taking the Tonks figure from Lucy.

"Um," Lucy said, perusing the directions and fingering the Remus figure, while Sirius took Fred. "If I'm understanding this right then we each roll two dice, take three cards, and we'll 'know' who goes first."

"Sure," Dinah agreed, as they all obeyed the rules.

It was determined that Dinah should go first and through a combination of rolling the dice and picking a card she got to move thirty-seven spaces. When she finally reached her landing spot, Dinah got to pull another card. The card, in typical Fred and George style, shot a stream of water into her face. Enough to startle her and make her face damp, not completely soak her. It seemed the twins had learned _some_ restraint.

After an hour the pieces declared Sirius the winner. Whether it was because he was playing Fred's piece, that it was his birthday, or that he had somehow managed to accumulate the necessary amount of points to win none of them knew. The points seemed to come and go at random intervals, but luckily the game was self-scoring.

As an added bonus they had all been sprayed with some liquid or powder when pulling a card from one of the three decks. Dinah had been doused with water and rose powder, giving her a nicely flushed look. Sirius was covered in pumpkin juice and confetti. There were little bits of the paper stuck all over his face and in his hair.

Lucy leaned over to kiss him, even though she herself had been sprayed with milk and honey. After nearly two months of being banned, things got pretty heated fairly fast. Though Lucy pulled back with a sheepish grin on her face, "Happy Birthday."

"As expected, sitting this game out was a good choice," Severus smirked, only stepping over to them from where he had been sitting in the dining area when the game had been safely put away.

Dinah laughed, "But it would have been a lot of fun seeing your face covered in some kind of goop."

"Indeed?" he raised an eyebrow before giving her a brief kiss, "You look and smell rather nice like this..." he turned to Lucy and Sirius, "Should we leave so you two can be alone or would you like us to stay and chaperone you? For the baby's sake."

"Well, we still haven't had cake yet, but I can cut some off for you if you'd like. I'm by no means kicking you out," Lucy insisted, "but knowing Fred and George none of this is likely to come off with a quick wash."

"We should at least sing happy birthday," Dinah said. "But you should cut some cake off... I'm still not really hungry for it."

"You wanted it earlier and all day long," Severus sighed, "You are going to eat it before the day is through."

"Feed it to her if you have to," Sirius suggested as he got up and cut off at least half the cake for their friends. "If nothing else, it'll probably…stimulate her." He ran his finger over the leftover cake and held out the frosting to Lucy.

"Sirius," Lucy sighed, as she reached up to suck the frosting off his finger. This wasn't good. They were getting into dangerous territory here. At this point, though, Lucy trusted Sirius would have enough restraint to stop before things got too far.

Dinah, for her part, watched them with a thoughtful expression and a bit of a squirm. Although the stuff on her face made it impossible to really tell if she was blushing or not.

Severus stared at her, "Perhaps the appetite... stimulant was the wrong kind of stimulant..."

"Perhaps," Dinah murmured, pointing at the cake, "Do what he did. Maybe I'll eat."

Severus was definitely blushing, "I'll do it at home."

"So, um, I know we haven't sung," Lucy husked, "but we'll see you tomorrow? Or Sunday? More likely Sunday."

"The baby, Lucy," Dinah was distracted enough from her own apparent arousal to give Lucy a significant look.

"Right," she sighed, letting Sirius move behind her and wrap his arms around her shoulders. "We can behave. I promise."

"Okay, if you're sure," Dinah grinned, "I still wish you'd let us sing, though. But it would just be you and me anyway, so..." she shrugged.

"We can sing if you want," Lucy offered. She started singing and Dinah joined in, Sirius humming along quietly in Lucy's ear. They both had a habit of quietly singing or humming to themselves and she hoped it would continue when the baby came.

"Ack! We have to light a candle!" Dinah shrieked when they stopped singing and nothing happened. "Quick, bring one over!"

Lucy giggled and waved her wand to bring a candle over to the cake and light itself. Sirius leaned the pair of them over a bit so that he could blow the candle out.

"What did you wish for?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing," he said, smooching her neck.

"Hm. Indeed. Well, can we leave now?" Severus took Dinah's arm.

"Don't be rude!" she chided.

"They obviously don't need us to stay here any longer," when Dinah gave him a look he sighed, turning to Lucy and Sirius. "Fine. Thank you for your hospitality, Happy Birthday, good night."

Sirius chuckled, "You're welcome. Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of your night and when I said nothing I only meant I don't have anything to wish for. I've already got what I want."

"Aww, how nice," Dinah cooed, while Severus smirked.

Lucy grinned, leaning into her husband, "You're getting cute again. That's dangerous territory." Turning back to the other couple she said, "Thanks again for coming. I'm glad you did. It was fun. Enjoy your cake."

"I'll try," Dinah grinned, "Happy Birthday, Sirius," she now seemed satisfied enough to tug on Severus's arm instead and hurry them out and back towards their rooms.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay so this was a rather long chapter but I didn't want to break up Sirius's birthday into two parts. That being said I'm also going to be uploading a mild M - rated scene to my 'Deleted Scenes' story for anyone interested. Enjoy!


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Lucy peeked nervously out the windows of Hogsmeade House. They'd apparated directly there from just outside the Hogwarts gates but she still feared her father would somehow know and show up at her home. She nearly squealed in relief, though, when she spotted all four Lupins and Harry coming towards the house.

"They're coming!" she told Sirius, rushing back to the couch.

"Good," Sirius said, grabbing her hand and tugging her down beside him, "Now you can sit."

Lucy giggled, settling down beside him, "Okay, but I'm just going to have to get back up when Tonks comes in, you know."

"She can wait," Sirius said, resting his hand over their child and grinning when it kicked him. "See? One wants you to sit."

"Well," she said, joining her hand with his, "I think One wants you to kiss me."

"Really now? Then I suppose I should."

Lucy reached up to kiss him as Sirius leaned down towards her. They both did their best to maneuver themselves into the positions Lucy had described to Dinah only the week before. She straddled her husband's lap and his hands were cupping her bum, though it was slightly different than in the Order days due to One's presence.

"I suppose we should just back out quietly and give them a few more minutes," Remus said, his sarcastic tone carrying through their arousal-filled minds.

"Oh, I don't know," Tonks replied in a conversational tone, "It's not like they can do that much and besides they did walk in on you naked that one time."

When they pulled apart, Lucy blushing, they found Tonks and Remus grinning at them knowingly and Harry mirroring Lucy's flushed face.

"Lu!" Teddy squealed, struggling to get down from his father's arms and breaking the awkward silence that had descended upon the group.

"Teddy!" Lucy grinned back. She stood and went over to Remus, taking his son from him.

"Baby," Teddy said, leaning over and putting his hand on One.

"Yes, Lucy's having a baby," Remus said, combing his son's teal hair back out of his eyes.

"C'mere," Tonks said, reaching for Teddy, taking him from Lucy's arms and transferring the boy to Harry, "Spend some time with your godfather." She held both of Lucy's hands out from her sides while Harry and Remus, pushing Anne's pram, went over to where Sirius was sitting. "Look at you," she said, "You're getting so big!"

"Don't remind me," Lucy groaned. She wasn't at all worried about showing or people staring anymore but her increasing size was making it more and more difficult to do the things she used to.

"So," Tonks said, as she dragged Lucy back to the place where everyone else was sitting, "are you ready to be a father?"

"I certainly hope you're not asking me," Lucy chuckled.

"No, no. I'm asking my elderly cousin," Tonks grinned.

"I think so," Sirius said, hesitantly.

"Good," Remus said, leaning over into the pram, "then you can hold your goddaughter." He dropped Anne into Sirius's startled arms.

Lucy smiled. Sirius looked so uncomfortable holding the squirming baby, but he had a solid hold on her and Anne looked like she felt quite secure. "See?" Lucy said, "Babies aren't that scary."

"Well," Sirius grinned as he became more comfortable with the precious bundle he held, "it has been awhile since I held one of these. About nineteen years."

Harry cleared his throat, looking embarrassed as he let Teddy climb down to play on the floor. "About that… well, not really but, I know it's your birthday and everything Sirius, but this baby's kind of like my little brother or sister and I saw this and... I thought of you guys. Ginny convinced me to get it though," he said, holding out a small, oddly-shaped present all wrapped up.

"Thank you," Lucy said, taking the gift, "but you didn't have to do that."

"I know, but Ginny was talking about how Mr. Weasley is like your dad and how you both really like Muggle things. Mr. Weasley asked me about these once and it just seemed right."

Peeling back the paper, Lucy's smile grew as she spied a soft yellow body and an orange beak.

"It's not exactly a rubber duck but I figured the plush would be more baby friendly."

"Thank you, Harry. It's lovely," Lucy said, feeling her eyes fill up. "I'd hug you, but I can't get up."

"Now you've gone and done it, Harry," Sirius said, "She'll cry for the next three hours now."

"Oh, I will not," Lucy protested, "In fact I'll go get the cake now."

"No, you're going to sit there and relax. You've been bouncing around all day and Poppy wants you…"

"Relaxed, I know."

"Yes. Now you girls sit here while Harry, Remus, and I go to the Three Broomsticks and get some take-away for dinner." Sirius stood up, tucking Anne back into her pram, and kissed Lucy before leading the two other men out of the house.

* * *

><p>"You seem more settled than you did the last time I saw you," Tonks said, flicking her wand to bring out a few more toys for Teddy.<p>

"The last time you saw me I was confessing that I was pregnant having only been married two weeks."

"Yes, but still… I'm glad things are going better for you."

Lucy just smiled, feeling incredibly guilty. Tonks was as close a friend as Dinah was but did she dare tell her everything that was going on? Even Dinah was unaware of what the Board of Governors was doing. She couldn't keep everything from Tonks though. That would hurt her more than Lucy not telling her she was pregnant had. "Well…" Lucy started.

"What? What happened?" Tonks asked, using her still-sharp Auror skills.

"There was an… incident involving me, Henley, and the Snapes in Hogsmeade."

"Not Sirius?"

"No, he was visiting Harry that weekend and I had to supervise the students on a visit over here."

Tonks moved to sit closer to Lucy, "It went okay though? He didn't try anything?"

"He said some things and made a grab for me, but Severus got between us and scared him away. That's the simplified version anyway. I don't want to think too much about all that happened. I'm supposed to be relaxing. It's why Sirius let me plan all this," she waved her hand around at the balloons, streamers, and various other decorations, "why he let me plan it twice."

"That's good of him," Tonks murmured. "Henley needs to be taught he can't control you anymore. You need to stand up to him. If you did that he'd probably back down and go away. He's just an overgrown bully is all."

Lucy shook her head, "That can't be all he is. Nobody seems to understand this and I don't know maybe I just haven't been explaining it well, but it's not just that I have a problem standing up to him. It's not only that he makes me feel stupid and worthless. I think I'm looking for something. I know I was only eight when Mum died but there had to have been something in him that wasn't how I know him. There had to have been something there that she loved, some good in him. Something."

Tonks sighed, "I'm sure there was at one time, but Lucy, whatever it was is long gone. You're not going to bring yourself anything but more grief and stress if you keep trying to find it. You don't want any of that for the baby."

"No," Lucy agreed. "You're coming to the baby shower right? I hope you know that Dinah doesn't expect you guys to get her gifts, but it'd probably be nice if you did."

"Oh, I'll be there. And I got something for Dinah too. It's just something small, but it'd be rude not to get her anything."

Lucy sighed and smiled as Teddy climbed up onto her lap. She hoped her own baby was like this little boy. Happy. Loved. Though she'd really prefer it if her child's hair didn't change color.

* * *

><p>"So," Lucy asked on her way to Game Night with Dinah, "do you know how your family is getting to Hogsmeade House?"<p>

"Well, Rosa took the day off from work and she, Mum, and Aunt Mildred were going to drive up Friday night and stay one night on the road before driving the rest of the way on Saturday. I'm going to meet them at the nearest Muggle road at around eleven and we'll walk back to Hogsmeade. I want to ease them into things before the other guests arrive, that is if it's okay with you. You're free to walk with me, too, if you aren't too busy. I thought I'd come up early in the morning and help you with preparations, then just take a break to go get them in the middle."

"That sounds fine. We should probably wait and see how I'm doing on Saturday before I decide if I'll walk with you or not. I've got an appointment with Poppy on Friday and I'm hoping she'll relax the restrictions a bit more but I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't." She and Sirius had talked with Minerva and the three of them decided that it would be best if Madam Pomfrey was made aware of the Board of Governors letters and the encounter with Henley. Lucy was convinced this would make Poppy increase her restrictions if anything, but she still wasn't ready to tell Dinah everything that was going on.

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you," Dinah assured her, "Though I don't know how preterm labor things usually work."

Lucy shrugged, "I'm learning as I go. It could be a lot worse I suppose; I could still be on bed rest."

"That's true, look at the bright side," Dinah beamed, stopping as they arrived in the library. Students had already begun to shuffle in, some looking decidedly more enthusiastic than others. "You know, Lucy... I really appreciate you coming with me for all of these. It means a lot that you're interested, and you've been a big help."

Lucy felt the tears start flowing at Dinah's words, "Dang it! I thought these hormones were done. I'm glad to help. I mean look, even Septimus seems to have improved a little. He's not scowling or screaming about having to sit with people from other houses and blood statuses."

"That's true! That's true!" Dinah rushed out, flustered and waving her hands in front of her, "Lucy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry! I just... I should stop talking altogether, shouldn't I?"

"Oh, no," Lucy waved her off, "it's fine. It's just me. It'll pass. During break today I started crying because Sirius held my hand," she sniffled at the thought of that moment, "I've just started doing this today. Hopefully I'm not the same during the shower or we'll probably run out of hankies."

Dinah smiled, "And here I thought the hormones waited till the third trimester to start attacking again in full force. I guess yours wanted a head start. Hmm," she frowned, "I'd better watch out for mine then. If they do anything crazy I might set my calendar off."

"Mostly they do," Lucy said, shifting back to normal mode, "I guess I'm just lucky. Oh! I haven't shown you yet!" she reached into her pocket for the little duckie Harry had gotten the baby. "One got its first present at Papa's second birthday party!" She held out the little toy for Dinah's inspection.

Lucy was reminded a bit of the sixteen-year-old Dinah when her friend let out a squeak of joy at the stuffed duck, "It is so cute!" she squealed, her hands hovering near it, "And fluffy! Can... can I touch it?"

"Of course," Lucy nodded, handing over the duck. "Are you sure Severus won't mind? I mean it _is_ from Harry and all."

"Oh, please, it's a stuffed duck, and he has no control over what I can and can't touch," Dinah snagged the toy and cuddled it as though it were alive.

Lucy giggled at her friend, "All right. I just don't want him to be upset. It was pretty sweet. Harry said he remembered how Uncle Arthur and I like Muggle things and I guess Uncle Arthur asked him about a rubber duck or something but he thought the plush would be more baby friendly. And," she started sniffling at the memory, "he said One is sort of like his little brother or sister. It just… it meant a lot, you know?"

"Of course," Dinah said gently, "I understand. Now, Lucy," her tone changed to a firm one and she held out a handkerchief, "Stop that. The game night is about to start."

"I'll do my best," Lucy said, trying in earnest to stop crying as she accepted the square of cloth from Dinah, "I can't make any guarantees though."

Dinah put a brief hand on Lucy's shoulder before turning to look out at the students, "Welcome everyone. By now, I'm sure you're starting to get into the groove of these game nights. If you are all seated appropriately, two people from each house per table and a maximum of one person from each visiting school per table, we may begin. I hope that you also have a range of years at each table, but I won't force that part. You may do whatever you like... study, play games, or just chat... only make sure that you are communicating. If there are any tables that seem to be having trouble on that front, myself and Professor Black will be around to try and help you find a place to start socializing from. If there are no further questions, you may begin," she smiled at the group.

Jania tentatively raised her hand, "Um, what's wrong with Professor Black? She doesn't look okay…"

"I'm fine," Lucy assured Jania, snatching back the duck that Dinah still held in one hand, "It's just baby hormones, I promise. I'm still competent enough to help most of you if need be."

Dinah looked a little bereaved at the loss of her duck, but she persevered as they began to wander amongst the tables, silently watching as the students began their socialization. All seemed peaceful for a moment, but after they'd passed the first line of book stacks Dinah suddenly stopped. "Oh no..." she frowned, chewing on her thumbnail. She had been getting so confident with these game nights, but suddenly she looked nervous again, like she had been on the first day.

"What?" Lucy said, looking around. There was nothing obviously wrong that she could see, but perhaps Dinah had spotted something…

Dinah pointed and spoke quietly, "It looks like that Lisette Jorkins managed to pair up with Mae and they're arguing. The rest of the table is joining in now. It looks like Lisette is saying things... and Andrew's not at that table... I bet Lisette made sure of it. She tries to keep Mae away from him. Mae still wants to be her friend but... she's the one that is still afraid of me and thinks I'm evil because of the parseltongue. I can't go over there and break up the argument. I can't. Could you do it? I hate to ask this of you right now, but..." Dinah chewed on her thumbnail some more.

"Sure," Lucy nodded, "yeah. I can do that." She wasn't entirely sure she _could_ do it, but she was willing to try. She lumbered over to the table were Mae and Lisette sat. "Excuse me girls, is there a problem here?"

Lisette actually shrunk back a little and opened her mouth to say 'No', but Mae stood abruptly and interrupted her, "Lisette is trying to get us to not do the game night, Professor Black! She's saying bad things about it and some of the others are listening!"

"Why would you not want to do game night?" Lucy asked Lisette, "You're not being forced to play a game. You could sit here just talking, studying, whatever you like."

"Because I don't understand what she's trying to do here! Why does she want us to all get along like this? It's creepy! I mean... what was wrong with the way it used to be. Why can't we make our _own _friends, how we want to? It's all suspicious! And - and you with your attack dog, here helping her out..."

"Mr. Black's dog happens to be very sweet!" Mae protested, turning a pleading gaze to Lucy, "You should bring him here with you next time! Show everyone how nice he is!"

"I'm sure I can do that," Lucy nodded, "Lisette, I've assured the students a number of times I would not bring any animal here if it were dangerous and Professor McGonagall wouldn't allow such an animal in the school either. As for making your own friends…you can do that too. I don't think Professor Snape expects you to be best friends with everyone here, but at the very least you should learn to be civil to them."

"I'm being civil!" Lisette protested, "I don't have anything _against_ them, I just don't see what the point of this is. She's trying to trick us... somehow..." the girl's brow furrowed in consideration.

"Ugh!" Mae exclaimed, "How many times do I have to tell you that Professor Snape is the nicest person in the world?"

"Well," Lucy said, calling a chair over to her and sitting down, "perhaps you're one of the people who don't have a need for this like others but it's important to come and participate for many reasons. First of all we can lead by example and promote friendliness and understanding between the houses. We can help the younger students to see that it's not bad to make friends with other houses. And, for this year at least, you can take the opportunity to learn about other countries and different wizarding schools."

"Well... I guess that's true," she admitted, "But I just don't understand why Professor Snape is trying to change everything. She's changed the Muggle Studies classes, the house interaction, they even say she's trying to change the Tournament! Why? It's suspicious! Has she tricked you, too?"

Lucy smiled and shook her head. "No," she said gently. "I know I've reacted poorly to change in the past and losing things that are familiar isn't my favorite thing to do either but… sometimes," she ran her hand over One, "even unexpected change isn't bad. All these changes aren't easy, I'm sure, but we're only trying to make things better for all of you."

"I don't know," the young second-year girl said, still looking nervous and uncertain, but she sat back down and stared at the table, "Fine. I'll go along quietly. I still don't know how I feel, though."

"That's okay," Lucy assured her, "Sometimes I take a long time to figure out how I feel about things too. I'm sure Professor Snape will be happy to hear you're giving it a chance."

She shrugged, "I guess."

Mae Yates sighed with relief and sat back down next to her friend, "Thanks, Professor Black. Sorry about the disruption."

"That's okay Mae. It's what I'm here for." She rose awkwardly from the chair, feeling the student's eyes on her the whole time. She blushed from embarrassment as she walked back to where Dinah was standing in the shadows of the bookshelves, nervously chewing on a fingernail. "Everything's fine," she assured her friend, "Lisette just isn't sure how she feels about Game Night yet. I told her that was okay but she at least had to give it a chance. Oh, and somehow my attack dog was also involved so Mae wants me to bring him to the next game night to show everyone he's friendly."

"Oh, good," Dinah sighed, looking relieved, "Thanks, Lucy. I doubt I'll ever get her to really trust me, but at least this is better. And I don't see any reason why Snuffles can't come."

Lucy shrugged, "It's no problem. She didn't seem entirely thrilled with me either but after that incident with Septimus I think my expectations of the students in general changed a lot."

"Mm. Me as well, with the parseltongue. I've finally accepted that not every single one of them has to like me. That doesn't mean I'm comfortable approaching the ones who don't, though..."

"Oh, I'm not _thrilled_. I don't think I could have gone up to them like that last year. Having Sirius around helps, or maybe it's the things I went through last year… or both." She hesitated before continuing on, "I find the children easier to deal with than the adults and… I feel like I need the students to be okay with me. They don't have to like me but they need to know me and be familiar with me. Especially with the investigation the Board of Governors wants to do. It just seems important somehow." Lucy hadn't intended to bring up the Board of Governors but she hadn't revealed anything Dinah didn't already know from their initial letter.

"Well... well I'm not like this in class!" Dinah hurried to point out, "It's just these game nights..."

"Oh, Dinah, I know that! I didn't mean to imply you were being a coward or anything. Really, I was being kind of selfish and thinking about me and trying to get the students on my side if I need to. Like you did last year."

"Oh," Dinah exhaled with relief, "I see. But I really think you'll be okay. Nobody here is going to let anything happen to you. Not me, not Severus, not Sirius, not Minerva, and not most of the students."

"Mmm," Lucy acknowledged with a half smile. Oh, she believed they wouldn't let anything _physical_ happen to her, but they couldn't protect her from her own emotions. If the Board of Governors took the investigation as far as they wanted, forced her to submit to a deep, probing interview…She didn't want to think about how that would go. Lucy was sure she wouldn't be able to cope with the world knowing her secrets. Her new, raging hormones seemed to agree, causing tears to form in her eyes again, though they didn't fall. "Thanks, Dinah," she said to forestall any questions about her tears, "I appreciate that. I really do."

"You're welcome," Dinah smiled, "Now, before you get all emotional again let's turn mute and get back to walking among these tables. Okay?" she grinned.

Lucy clamped her lips shut and nodded, not sure how well that was going to work but determined to try anyway. Luckily for the both of them Mae and Lisette's little tiff was the worst thing they had to deal with that night. Well, if they didn't count Lucy's emotions that was.


	45. Chapter 45

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I hadn't realized quite how long it had been between updates. Sorry! I'm glad you guys have been enjoying this so far and here's another chapter for your pleasure! :-P

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><p>Chapter 45<p>

Lucy beamed as she knocked on Dinah's door midmorning Saturday. She hadn't seen Dinah since lunch the day before since she and Sirius had skipped dinner to eat together privately before her appointment with Poppy. The healer had taken to coming down to the Blacks' rooms to keep Lucy from doing any unnecessary walking. Now she was completely ready for the baby shower. She even had her Muggle clothes on.

The door was opened by Severus, whose eyes gazed her up and down, "Curious ensemble. Dinah! Lucy has come for you."

"Coming!" Dinah hurried into view next, wearing her normal robes, "Hi - oh! You're dressed already!"

"Yes," Lucy blushed, "I may have been a tad excited when I got ready this morning."

"That's fine. I was going to change at your place if that's okay. Other than that, I'm ready to go."

"That's no problem. So, before we go… I'm allowed to walk around more now so I can go with you to get your family, but do you mind if we apparate straight to Hogsmeade House once we leave Hogwarts? I just… if he's there…" she twisted her hands together in front of her, worried about what Dinah and Severus would think.

"Of course," Dinah said, understanding, while Severus's expression was in its normal unreadable state. "That's just fine with me."

"Thanks," Lucy grinned, "I want to celebrate today. I won't be able to do that if we run into him so it's just better to avoid it if I can. We'll see you later then Severus? We'll be bringing Dinah back with plenty of things for the nursery."

"Yes!" Dinah agreed excitedly, turning to her husband, "The baby will have so many wonderful things after today."

"Mm," looking at his wife, Severus's expression changed to a warm smile, his hands wandering to rest on her large abdomen, "And most importantly, it will have all its own clothes."

"More clothes than it could ever possibly wear," Dinah agreed with a happy, gentle smile, as the two shared a kiss.

"And," Severus continued, still smiling affectionately at his wife as both their hands rested on her belly, "Aunt Mildred is in town and I do not have to go anywhere near her."

Dinah laughed, "Yes, I suppose that's a small miracle for you. I'll see you later. Okay," she turned to grin at Lucy, "Let's go." Bidding her husband a brief, final farewell, they exited the dungeons.

After a few minutes of companionable silence they left the castle and Lucy took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp December air and the scent of snow. "Are you prepared for another Weasley invasion?" she asked.

"I think so," Dinah grinned. "Are _you_ ready for another Aunt Mildred invasion? Is anybody, for that matter?"

Lucy grinned, "I hope so. Then again I always have the 'I need to sit down and relax' excuse." She was quiet for a moment before saying, "The baby's going to have lots of its very own clothes? Do you plan on sharing your robes with it?"

Dinah blushed, "Oh... well, that was more of a rhetorical sort of happy comment... thing. You see, growing up Severus was forced to wear his father's old Muggle clothes, so..." she shrugged, "Since he mentioned it in front of you I guess it's okay for me to explain."

"Ah," Lucy said, sensing the awkwardness of the subject. "I suppose that's one point for Henley then. I was always decently groomed and attired. Of course being nearly nine when Mum died probably helped there."

"From what I've seen of him, I think he would have done so himself just to make sure you made him look good," Dinah rolled her eyes.

Lucy snorted as she placed her hand on the Hogwarts gates, "You've got that about right. But we aren't going to dwell on such things today! Aunt Molly and the rest were supposed to arrive at the house a little bit ago to start setting up the wizard decorations. I think she said Rosa was bringing some Muggle ones?"

"I'm sure. Rosa likes decorating," Dinah grinned, reaching out to help Lucy push open the gates.

"See you in my living room?" Lucy asked as they stepped out of the gates together.

"See you there," Dinah agreed as they apparated.

"Oh!" They heard as the two women appeared in Lucy's living room. "Lucy dear, there you are," Aunt Molly said, giving her a quick hug, "You should sit. And eat. Both of you."

Lucy chuckled as she obeyed her aunt and accepted the small plate of vegetables that Molly handed her.

"Thank you," Dinah said politely, sitting next to Lucy, taking a carrot, and swirling it idly around in the white dip provided, but not taking a single bite.

"Dinah," Lucy warned, "you have to eat."

"Yes," Tonks said, plunking herself down on Lucy's other side. "We can't have skinny pregnant people. I swear I looked like an elephant myself."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed, "but you're the one who gave yourself a trunk."

Dinah giggled, forcing a bite of the carrot and grimacing before putting it down, "I'm just not very hungry." Lucy wondered if she thought she could escape the normal lecturing and appetite stimulant threats due to the fact that Severus was not there.

"Did you eat breakfast? I don't think you _have_ to eat yet but you should when the shower starts."

"I had some... eggs," Dinah said, not mentioning how many eggs she had had.

"Was Severus satisfied with the eggs you ate?" Lucy questioned.

"Um..." Dinah flushed and took another forced bite of carrot.

Lucy huffed and put a hand on her hip, "Eat. I'm sorry I don't want to make you take the stimulant but you need to eat. If none of us can make you eat I'm sure Aunt Mildred will have some choice words about it."

"I don't have the stimulant with me," Dinah said stubbornly. "And Severus was almost satisfied with my egg consumption. Almost. I ate about half a serving."

Molly chose that moment to turn around, mirroring Lucy's pose of a hand on her hip. She frowned at Dinah like she would have Lucy or Ginny or any of her children. "Dinah…"

"Marie," Lucy supplied.

"Dinah Marie, you are going to eat. It won't do to have you faint from hunger at your own shower. If you don't like the vegetables I've got the girls preparing a whole spread in the kitchen. You're family's bringing food as well. The baby needs food. If I have to go to Hogwarts and retrieve your husband I will."

Dinah frowned irritably at Lucy's aunt, ironically closest to her own age of everyone in the group, "Yes, that would go over well." But she took another bite of carrot.

Lucy giggled, "Probably not, but I think your eating habits might outweigh his annoyance with Aunt Molly."

She shrugged, munching slowly, her gaze shifting uneasily to one of her robe pockets as she did so.

Lucy wondered if her friend hadn't been quite truthful when she'd said she didn't have the stimulant with her but she didn't want to push the issue. After all, Dinah hadn't asked any questions when Lucy had mentioned the Board of Governors the other day.

Molly and Tonks went back to decorating and Lucy turned to Dinah, "We're just trying to look out for you. I hope you're not upset."

Dinah shook her head silently, but suddenly her eyes seemed to tear up and she drew her knees up onto the couch with difficulty, hugging them as close to her as she could, setting her plate down next to her and sniffling a little.

"Oh, no Dinah. Don't… you know…" Lucy protested, her hormones coming into full force, making her eyes water and her nose start to run.

"I'm sorry..." Dinah sniffled, taking a shaking breath, "It's just... what if... I mean, everyone is saying that I have a normal, healthy pregnancy. But... what if I don't? I mean, this eating isn't normal, right? If there was no magic and no appetite stimulant, what would happen then?" she whispered, whimpering a little and hanging her head so they could not see her face, her arms gripping her knees more tightly.

"I… I don't know. I suppose your doctor would be monitoring you and using some sort of Muggle solution. I really couldn't say," she paused to blow her nose, "I think you're in a much better position health-wise than I am. Maybe… maybe you could ask your mum about it? She'd know better than me I'm sure."

"I... I guess maybe Severus would still nag me about it and I'd still eat. Do other people have this problem? Is there secretly something wrong with the baby or with me?" She shook her head, "Oddly enough, Severus hasn't even thought of this possibility. I haven't told him my worries... but this has been in the back of my mind for a while now," she withdrew two handkerchiefs from her robes and handed one to Lucy, "Here. I brought three. I thought they'd all be for you. I didn't think that _I_ would be using one. I'm sorry," she whimpered, wiping her eyes.

"It's okay," Lucy assured her, taking the offered hankie and looking around to make sure Aunt Molly wasn't going to start fussing over them, but the other women had gone into another room, "I doubt there's anything secretly wrong with you or the baby. Madam Pomfrey would have caught if there was. She's taken excellent care of me, hasn't she? Maybe you should talk to Severus though. You guys are always telling me to talk to Sirius after all," she grinned.

Dinah nodded, calming down, "Okay, I will. And Mum too. I think Sev's problem is that he's so obsessed with magic he never thinks about how things would or could be without it."

Lucy shrugged, wiping at her eyes, "Some of us just don't know any other way. That's not Severus's problem I know, but…"

"Yeah, I guess," Dinah still seemed glum.

"Oh, come on now," Lucy said, "You're going to be getting lots of presents today! And your family's going to be here. Just imagine what Severus will do if Aunt Mildred insists on going to see him."

That got Dinah to laugh, sniffing and wiping her eyes one more time before putting her handkerchief away. "I'm not sure I want to witness it."

"I think it would be fun," Lucy grinned, "Now, just let me know when you want to go pick up your family and we'll be off."


	46. Chapter 46

A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews! They really make my day. Here's the first part of the baby shower. Animalwriter and I got rather carried away with it I'll admit and it's kind of long so I'm breaking it up into a couple parts. I'm going to be out of town for the weekend and without internet so the next part won't be up until Monday at the earliest. I really like the new feature on here letting us give our stories cover art! However, I have no artistic talent and animalwriter is insanely busy right now (she provides the artwork for both of us) and so until she's able to get time to draw us some more covers Don't Leave Me is the only piece with it's own art. For now everything else (including my profile pic) will be a picture of the Blue Ridge Mountains from my trip to North Carolina. :)

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><p>Chapter 46<p>

"This will be the first time you've seen your family since the wedding, right? And probably longer for Rosa. I feel bad. She could have come to the wedding too. I wouldn't have minded. With everything that was going on at the time it didn't even cross my mind that I should have sent her an invitation too," Lucy said, picking her way across the landscape.

"Oh," Dinah laughed, waving her off, "That's fine, I didn't expect you to do that. We've been sending owls back and forth, anyway. It's much better than her thinking I live in New Zealand. And I've been sending everyone 'pregnancy pictures', too."

"Oh, that's fun! I wish I'd have thought about that," she stopped and looked around her, pointing "There they are!"

"Yes!" Dinah agreed, hurrying forward despite her pregnancy, only stopping with a sheepish expression when she realized it would not be good for Lucy to follow her at that same pace. Still, they made it to the Muggles in good time.

"Dinah!" Mrs. Samson's eyes lit up when she saw her daughter and she took a step forward only to stop, frowning and glaring a little as she was bowled over by Aunt Mildred, who slammed into Dinah with a boisterous hug.

"Dinah!" the older woman shrieked, "Oh, my goodness! Look at you!" she leaned back and rested her hands on Dinah's abdomen, "The pictures hardly do you justice. You are just beautiful and positively glowing!" Her gaze suddenly shifted and she tilted her head in various directions, then craned her neck and stared off into the distance.

"What are you looking for, Aunt Mildred?" Dinah asked.

"Severus!" she, predictably, replied, and then a look of disappointment clouded her features and she spoke to Dinah in a nearly scolding tone, "You didn't bring him, did you?"

Dinah sighed, "Of course not, Aunt Mildred. This is a _baby_ shower. I thought you liked things done traditionally."

"Oh, well, yes, that's true normally. But I'd make an exception for Severus. I was hoping to be able to see the dear again. He has such an adorable smile."

Dinah smiled shyly, "Yes, he does..."

"But he is always _scowling_!" Aunt Mildred bemoaned, "You really need to keep working on that issue with him, Dinah."

"I'm afraid there is little I can do about that, Aunt Mildred," Dinah said, "Besides, there's something to be said about the scowling..." she blushed a little, oddly, and then cleared her throat, "Anyway, he's not here."

"But I am," Lucy grinned at the group, "I hope I'm a suitable enough replacement for Severus, Aunt Mildred."

"Oh, well, of course you are dear," Aunt Mildred clucked, turning to Lucy and now effectively blocking both pregnant women from access by Dinah's mother and Rosa as she carefully inspected Lucy's abdomen with a nod of approval, "Yes, smaller than Dinah's by about a month, although" she wagged a teasing finger at Lucy, "that still doesn't pull the date up beyond your wedding. But that's all right! These are modern times, aren't they?" she beamed, looking exceedingly proud of herself for that statement.

Lucy laughed a bit, embarrassed, "Yes, they are. Though we didn't plan it this way. It only takes one… enthusiastic moment, right? _I_ was terribly embarrassed about it but everyone's been very supportive. Especially Dinah. She," Lucy stopped as her hormones started again, "Sorry. She helped me find out and… and come to grips with everything…"

"Oh, goodness, dear, please don't cry!" Aunt Mildred said, taken aback and giving Lucy a gentle pat on the shoulder, "That's our Dinah, you know. Always helping others. And you're going to be just fine, too."

"Thank you," she sniffled, "It's just hormones, you know. They came at the start of the week." She pulled out the handkerchief Dinah had given her earlier and blew her nose, "You should have seen me last night."

"Oh, I know how it is," she said kindly, and then turned a curious look to the two other Muggle women in the bunch, "Dahlia! Aren't you going to say hello to your daughter?"

"I was-" Dinah's mother began to sputter, but just gave up and shook her head, waving Aunt Mildred off before walking up to Dinah.

"Hi, Mum," Dinah smiled, hugging her mother.

"So good to see you, _finally_," the other woman shot another barely-concealed glare in Mildred's direction before turning back to smile at her daughter, "You look so beautiful, dear. I can hardly believe you're in your third trimester already."

Dinah blushed, "Neither can I. Thank you. It's so good to see you."

"You, too," she smiled, and then turned and hugged Lucy next, "You too, of course, Lucy. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Lucy said, returning the older woman's hug, her emotions settling down again, "I'm so glad you could come Mrs. Samson. I bet you're excited for your first grandchild."

"Thrilled is a better word!" she grinned, and Lucy could see where Dinah got some of her cheerful enthusiasm from.

"Rosa!" meanwhile, Dinah was hugging her friend, "It's so good to see you!"

"You, too! Wow!" Rosa held her hands wide in front of Dinah's waist, "Look at you! Aunt Mildred is right. Pictures don't do this justice. It's amazing, Dinah... I wish _I_, too..." she trailed off.

"It hasn't even been a year yet," Dinah told her friend gently, "I wouldn't worry. You've got plenty of time before you have to worry."

"Mm. Yeah, I guess so. Still, congratulations to you!" she gave Dinah another hug before turning to Lucy, "You, too! I'm sure you're excited!"

"Excited. Apprehensive. Scared. Terrified. But extremely happy." She leaned forward, pretending to be secretive. "As for me, I'm only twenty-six and my aunt has seven kids so my family's super fertile. Looking back, I'm kind of surprised this didn't happen earlier. Though I'm glad it didn't."

Rosa laughed, "Wish I had that problem."

"Oh!" Lucy gasped, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be rude. I – I just say things without thinking sometimes. Dinah knows!"

"Oh, I know," Rosa assured her, "I'm not offended. I know you would never purposefully be rude to someone. You're not that kind of person," she smiled.

"Thanks," Lucy smiled back, "Are all of you ready to make the trek back to my home?"

"Yes, let's go," Dinah agreed. "It's not far."

The walk back was rather pleasant, making conversation with Dinah's family. The snow made the walk slow going and cold, but Lucy was enjoying her first long walk in a few months. After awhile they found their way onto the main street in Hogsmeade.

The Muggles' eyes were wide as they took in their surroundings, Aunt Mildred's widest of all. "So, this is the country's only all wizard village? My, my."

Lucy grinned and nodded, "Yes. That store right over there," she pointed to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, "is owned by my cousins."

"Oh, how lovely!" Mrs. Samson smiled.

"Let's visit it-"

"No!" Dinah grasped her Aunt Mildred's arm before she could rush off to the place, "We need to make it to the shower. Maybe later in the evening we can visit Honeydukes or something, but... Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is just... not safe for Muggles."

"Oh, how unfortunate. Why is that?" the older woman asked.

"Well..." Dinah looked at Lucy.

"It's a joke shop," Lucy explained, "They have things in there that explode, give you black eyes, and a whole host of other things. Dinah's right. We probably shouldn't take you in there. I think only George is there today anyway. It's not a weekend for the students to come into town and I'm sure business has slowed down some. Heck, George is probably only in town because Angelina's here."

"Oh, a romantic interest, then?" Aunt Mildred positively batted her eyelashes at Lucy.

"You've got her started now," Mrs. Samson sighed, "Do hurry us to your house, please, Lucy. I'm sure there are plenty of exciting things to see there, Mildred."

"Sorry," Lucy apologized sheepishly, bustling everyone along to her home. "Well, here we are."

They had no sooner entered the home, than Molly moved Lucy over to sit back down on the couch. "I know what Poppy said, dear, but you really should be resting now. Don't want to be doing too much."

"You have a lovely home," Dinah's mother complimented Lucy as she got settled on the couch.

"Yes, it's so beautiful and quaint," Rosa agreed.

"Thank you," Lucy said, looking around her home and smiling, "Sirius bought it for us last year and had Tonks," she inclined her head toward her friend, "and her husband Remus help him fix it up."

"Oh, how lovely!" Aunt Mildred gushed, walking towards Tonks, "You are the young woman with the little boy with the colorful hair, right? And his baby sister? How are the little darlings doing?"

Dinah smiled and whispered to Lucy, "She's going to be easily occupied during this party, I think."

Lucy nodded, "Especially when she finds out Anne's upstairs."

Meanwhile, Tonks nodded, "That would be me, yes. The kids are doing wonderfully. How are you?" As she asked that, Tonks moved sideways and tripped over the rug.

Lucy, used to her friends clumsiness, snorted with laughter.

"Oh, I'm very well, thank you, but be _careful_ dear, we don't need any broken bones today! Of course, Dinah says that your wizard healers can take care of such things in a day."

"It's impressive, I'll admit," Dinah grinned, "Mum, Rosa, you remember Tonks Lupin and Molly Weasley."

"Ah, yes, how do you do," Rosa said politely.

"Indeed," Mrs. Samson smiled, "You must both be very excited for Lucy."

"Yes, very," Molly nodded enthusiastically, "The girls should be just about ready to bring the food out of the kitchen if you're hungry. And if we don't have enough seating I can conjure up a couple more chairs. Oh, and Rosa, dear, you said you had Muggle decorations you wanted to put up?"

"Oh, of course," Rosa said, flushing a little as she lifted the bag she had been carrying, "Just some balloons and streamers... although I'm afraid they will just pale in comparison to these magical items."

"They'll be lovely, dear, I'm sure," Molly assured her, "Arthur just loves Muggle things and Lucy inherited his fascination. I swear, if I didn't know better Lucy might actually be his child."

Rosa smiled, "That's sweet. Well, perhaps it would take a lot less time to put these up if I had some magical assistance. I'd love to see how it's done magically. I think the spell was _Wingium Levitosa_ or something of that sort?"

Lucy giggled, "Something like that. _Wingardium Leviosa_," she said, with a swish and flick of her wand, lifting the streamers into the air.

Rosa watched in awe and clapped when she was finished, "Amazing! I never get used to it!"

"You will after a number of years," Dinah's mother smiled, "I would be happy to help with the food, Molly, as long as you do not need me to perform some kind of spell to get it in here."

"No, not at all," Molly said, waving Dahlia along with her to the kitchen, "I'll introduce you to Ginny, Fleur, and Angelina while we're in there."

"Oh, good, more people to meet!" Aunt Mildred abandoned Tonks to rudely shove in with Mrs. Samson and Lucy's Aunt, and they disappeared into the kitchen.

"Sorry," Dinah said to Tonks, "I hope she wasn't being too forward."

"She was fine," Tonks said, sitting down next to Lucy and leaning on her, "She's just curious. A lot people are like that with Metamorphmagi."

"I feel bad for Angelina if Aunt Mildred finds out her and George are getting married in April," Lucy grinned.

"Oh, someone should have warned her," Dinah giggled, "Well, I guess if it happens she can handle it. It builds character or... something."

"If Angelina can handle being around George _and_ Fred all the time I think she can handle Aunt Mildred," Lucy decided.

"I'm sure then. The way Sev talks about those boys you'd think they were monsters. Luckily, I take all of my husband's comments with a grain of salt."

"Well," Lucy laughed, "I wouldn't call them monsters but if I didn't love them I probably would be really annoyed by them."

"Here we are," Molly said, leading the other six women and a legion of plates filled with food into the living room, "I hope you're all hungry."

"_Starving_!" Dinah gushed, as Dahlia took it upon herself to introduce Rosa to the others, "What kept you?"

Angelina laughed, "There was a lot of food to prepare."

"But it was worth the wait," Lucy insisted, "Aunt Molly makes the _best_ apple spice cake in existence." She waved her wand, procuring a small slice of the cake for herself.

"Wonderful!" Dinah began devouring her cake at a rapid pace while her relatives and Rosa just smiled, very familiar with Dinah's normal eating enthusiasm. "This _is_ delicious, Molly. Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear," Molly said, blushing a little, "I know Lucy really likes it, but I'm glad you've gotten your appetite back."

"For now," Dinah sighed, dropping her fork when the cake was nearly finished as her gaze drifted to her mothers, "Mum... can I ask you something?"

"Of course, dear," like any good mother, Dinah's seemed to immediately realize when something was up. She sat down next her daughter, "What is it?"

Lucy listened as Dinah outlined her problem from earlier to Mrs. Samson, keeping her emotions in check this time, although she was clearly still sad and worried.

"Oh, Dinah," the older woman smiled and squeezed her daughter's hands, "I can see that this has been bothering you, but you don't really need to worry. The same thing happened to me when I was pregnant with you."

"It did?" Dinah's gaze lit up a little bit. "Really?"

Mrs. Samson laughed, "Well, not quite as extreme, I'm afraid, but then again my normal appetite is not as extreme as yours, either."

Dinah laughed, blushing a little, "Well, that's true. But... the stimulant and everything..."

"Hmm," she frowned, "I think I have a theory about this, and I think you touched on it a little bit yourself. This whole stimulant thing began because Severus was... shall we say, disturbed by your appetite behaviors?"

"Well, yes..." Dinah frowned in consideration.

"And it was his idea to brew the stimulant, initially, because your shifting appetite made him nervous. Dinah, I do believe this is a husband issue," she winked.

Dinah laughed, "You mean, Severus exaggerated it from the beginning because he was worried about me. Because he's used to my normal appetite, likes it so much, and seeing me behave oddly... come to think of it, at the Malfoy's when I eat slow to be polite it also seems to bother him."

"You see? Now, I'm sure it is not... _normal_ to have your appetite shift so much, but you haven't gone a full _day_ without being hungry yet, have you?"

"No, I'm always hungry at least once per day. So... it would balance out? I still have a healthy pregnancy?"

"I'm sure you do. And even if there are little blips here and there, what is modern medicine, both magical and non, for if it can't fix up little things like this? If you were _truly_ having an unhealthy pregnancy there would be other symptoms, I think. And even without the stimulant your body would work with you, and we would all encourage you to eat. Right?" she glanced around at the room, which was still listening with rapt attention.

"Yes, of course," Lucy nodded, "In fact we were doing that just this morning."

"You see?" she repeated, smiling at Dinah, "Your pregnancy perils may be different, but are really no worse than the ordinary woman eating a full carton of ice cream with sardines every night."

Dinah had to laugh, "So, this is all Sev's fault?"

"Oh, I'm sure the stimulant has its merits, but it isn't the only solution, that's certain. That's the thing with husbands, Dinah. No matter how good their intentions, they always manage to screw up. But they do it out of love."

Lucy smiled, "Sort of like how Sirius has been trying everything he can to not make me cry this whole week. One day I cry because he holds my hand, then he doesn't and I cry about that. Yesterday I cried because he said 'thank you' to Poppy. The poor man doesn't have any idea what to do anymore."

"Yes, just like that!" Dinah's mother laughed, nodding at Lucy.

Dinah laughed as well, "Great. Okay, I'll talk to him about it, but I'll let him keep up with the stimulant threats if he really needs to..." she sighed, "What a relief. Thanks, Mum," she hugged her mother.

"Of course, that's what I'm here for," Mrs. Samson hugged her back, and then gave her an affectionate smile, "Now, finish that cake while your appetite is still intact!"

Dinah laughed and took another bite, "Will do."


	47. Chapter 47

A/N: This chapter's a little long but here's the other half of the baby shower!

Chapter 47

"Now," Tonks said, taking some fruits, vegetables, and dip for herself, "who's freaking out about labor?"

"Hm. To be honest, I haven't thought that much about it yet," Dinah admitted. "But now that you bring it up... I suppose you have some stories you could share."

"Nothing too bad," Tonks said, looking incredibly sad not to be able to tell them horror stories about labor and delivery. "Anne's pregnancy was easier than Teddy's but with Teddy the war was going on, Remus was freaking out. We weren't sure if the baby was going to be a werewolf or not and he was my first… it was a long, hard labor though."

"A... a... _what_-wolf?" Aunt Mildred shrieked, popping up next to Tonks, "Why would you think... do most... Metamorphosis Mages become werewolves?"

"Ahh, I'm sorry!" Dinah shrieked, hiding her face in her hands.

"That's quite all right," Lucy said before clamping her lips shut to prevent the laughter from coming out.

"Well," Tonks considered, "I probably _could_ turn into a werewolf if I wanted, but no. My husband, Remus, you met him at the wedding, he's a werewolf. It's… why he looks tired a lot of the time and usually how he's gotten whatever injury he currently has."

"Goodness, that sounds dangerous, then. So he transforms into a wolf on the full moon like in the films?"

"Um, I think so," Tonks, and Lucy, turned to Dinah for confirmation.

Dinah grinned, "Some Muggle films have things that are close to accuracy, you know. Take the one we watched in your rooms earlier this year, Lucy."

"Oh, that's right!"

"It all depends on what film your watching," Hermione inserted from where she was sitting, "Some of them get things right, some of them don't. It's like you said in class Professor Snape."

"Which reminds me," Lucy said, "I should see if Severus will brew some more potion. Not for me or Remus though. Just because," she grinned, thinking of the end of the school year when Severus had gotten all flustered over the potion.

"Oh, that husband of yours is an expert potion brewer, isn't he, Dinah? When you were in school that Professor Slughorn thought you were so talented in that field, too," Aunt Mildred nodded.

Lucy giggled, "I think Severus's standards are a little more exacting than Horace Slughorn's. He only let me help brew a potion because I'd used a body-bind curse on Dinah. When I just casually mentioned I was thinking of brewing a Wolfsbane potion he threatened me and told me I'd likely blow myself up! The man taught me in Potions for seven years. You'd think he'd know I'm capable of brewing just fine."

"Well... the Wolfsbane potion _is_ a very complex one. The reason it's so rare is because even most experts shy away from it..." Dinah cautiously defended her husband.

"I know, but…"

"I'm sure you've noticed by now Lucy's stubborn," Ginny said.

"And she tends to think she can do just about anything. Of course she's right most of the time, but honestly, Lu. Wolfsbane?" Tonks said, nudging Lucy.

Lucy just shrugged, looking down at her plate and poking at the remains of her cake.

"Oh, come now, I couldn't do it either," Dinah said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He let me help, but he didn't let me do much. And I was fine with it. I didn't want to be responsible for an explosion. It really is very complex. I've watched him do it multiple times."

"Thanks," Lucy said, offering Dinah a watery smile.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," Tonks said from her other side, "I'm sure you could brew it if you wanted but trying it by yourself without ever having done it before… it's dangerous."

"I know that," Lucy mumbled, then changed the subject, "So, what does everyone want to do now?"

"Do you have any shower games planned?" Aunt Mildred piped up, always ready with a suggestion.

"Well, we thought we would…" Aunt Molly went on to explain a game to Dinah's family while Fleur went around setting up the game. About halfway through Tonks left to go feed Anne and bring her back down. Aunt Mildred squealed with delight at the baby and distractedly lost the game. After, Mrs. Samson was declared the winner, earning herself a lovely potted flower.

"It's lovely," Dinah's mother said, and then laughed, "But just to make sure... it isn't going to come to life and try to eat me at some point, is it? When it gets bigger?"

"No," Hermione assured her, "it does have some properties highly valued in potion making, but it won't harm you as it is."

"And normal water and sunlight are enough to keep it alive?"

"It should be," Angelina said, "but it doesn't seem to matter what kind of plant I have or what I do to it. They always die."

"That used to happen to me, too. But I'll take good care of it," she smiled and set it down on the floor for the time being.

"Are the two of you ready to open presents now?" Tonks asked, wiggling her fingers in her daughters face.

Lucy yawned and looked at Dinah, "I am if you are."

"You look more tired than ready," Dinah teased, "But yes, I'm ready."

"I blame my hormones. Crying constantly really wears you out."

"Well, wake up enough to open this," Tonks said, thrusting a package into her lap, "and this one's for you," she said, handing Dinah a slightly smaller but equally neat-looking package.

"I'm guessing Remus wrapped these?" Lucy asked, carefully untying the ribbon.

"Of course. You don't think I could manage that with two kids on my hands now do you?"

"I don't think you could manage this by yourself in a quiet and empty room." Lucy slowed down to let Dinah open her present first. She was sure Tonks had gone a little overboard on her own present and didn't want to take attention away from Dinah if she could help it.

Dinah had to laugh, "Green and yellow cloth nappies. Thank you. They're very appropriate and will be so useful."

"You're welcome. I know how it is with newborns. Constantly on the hunt for clean nappies."

Lucy's present was actually a box. Inside which was a custom mobile. According to the picture a duck, a wolf, a fox, a pig, and an otter would hang from the device. Tucked in alongside the box were some blue and red cloth nappies.

Tonks hugged her as tears welled up again with a firm, "Don't start."

"I'll try not to," Lucy laughed and sat the present aside, "Who wants to go next?"

"Here," Rosa said, handing Lucy a small, oddly-shaped package and setting a gigantic box on the floor next to Dinah, "I'm so glad you had that registry, Dinah, otherwise I'd have had no clue what to buy for you. After all, I still don't know what all can be accomplished by magic and what can't be."

"Thank you," Lucy said as she opened up her little package. Inside were some adorable and oh-so-tiny socks and a book titled, _Pat the Bunny_. "Oh! It's One's first book," she sniffed.

Rosa blushed, "It's nothing big, really. It's very popular and it has soft things for the baby to touch... I wanted to get you something Muggle but something you could probably still use. Um, the book is signed, too."

"It's just lovely," Lucy said, opening it up to see a small note from Rosa. "I love it."

"I'm glad," she smiled. "Okay, Dinah."

Lucy watched her friend reach for the present from Rosa, while she idly fingered the fuzzy little bunny in the book.

"Now, no lifting that up," Rosa teased as Dinah began to tear the paper from the sizeable gift.

Dinah laughed, "I don't think that's possible, Rosa. Oh! OH!" Dinah let out a familiar squeal of joy as she lifted the largest, fluffiest stuffed bear Lucy had ever seen out of the package. It had a pale yellow bow tied around its neck and was about the size of a small child. Dinah hugged it tight as though she was a small child herself.

"Oh, good, I'll consider myself a success then," Rosa smiled, "I was hoping that would elicit your 'cute response'."

Dinah laughed, "It's perfect! Thank you! Though I might steal it from the baby..."

Lucy giggled, "Dinah!"

Molly smiled, "Ron had a bear like that when he was little. Fred turned it into a spider after Ron broke his toy broom. The boy's been terrified of spiders ever since. He was only three at the time."

Dinah chuckled, "Poor kid. I have nothing against spiders but I'd like this bear to stay as a bear."

"By the way, speaking of which, there's more in there," Rosa said.

"Speaking of what? Oh! The high chair I asked for! Thank you! And... oh, that set of books about the bugs that I wanted," she pulled a box of colorful cardboard books out of the box and smiled at Lucy, "This series is so cute. I'll show you later. There's this part I love where the 'very hungry caterpillar' eats a bunch of snack foods like pie and sausage and ice cream."

"Goodness, I wonder why you like _that_ part," Mrs. Samson teased.

"Oh, hush, mother!" Dinah laughed.

"Sausage!" Lucy practically drooled, "It's a good thing you guys put out a variety."

"Before you grab something," Ginny said, "You should open this." She handed a long thin present to Lucy and a smaller square one to Dinah.

"Thanks!" Lucy said, pulling at the paper to find a small toy broomstick inside. The handle was a dark green while the broom itself was gold. Included in the box was a stand full of signatures. "Ginny! You didn't have to do this."

Ginny shrugged, "It's no big deal. I'm still on the team even though they've given me leave to help out at school. The Harpies were glad to do it."

"Oh, thank you, Ginny," Dinah, still holding the gigantic brown bear, smiled when she open the package to find a selection of colorful pacifiers, some of them changing colors intermittently. "You can never have enough of these, you know."

"That's what Mum said," Ginny grinned.

Fleur and Angelina had gone in together and gotten both Dinah and Lucy a bassinet filled with little robes, socks, pacifiers, little mittens to keep the babies from scratching their faces, and a spell book all about baby issues. Fleur assured them it was invaluable when she'd first had Victoire.

Hermione also got the pair of them similar presents. Dinah opened a green baby book and Lucy a red. "They're used a lot in the Muggle world," she explained, "The book is full of pages and places to insert pictures and other keepsakes. It has places for you to fill in information about the baby and the milestones it reaches…"

"Thank you, Hermione, they're lovely. And colored for our husband's houses, I see," Dinah beamed, still refusing to let go of the stuffed bear.

Lucy grinned, "Well in my case blue is probably too 'boy' and if she mixed the colors it would have been purple… red was the safer option there. You know, Dinah, I think Severus is going to be jealous of that bear if you keep hugging it like that."

Dinah shook her head, "Sorry. Not putting it down. It's so soft," she grinned.

"Don't wear it out before the baby is born," Rosa teased, and then inclined her head over the back of the couch, "I don't think Aunt Mildred can wait any longer."

"Indeed, I can't!" Aunt Mildred gushed, hurrying over and placing a box in front of both Lucy and Dinah, both of similar size. "Dinah says you will most definitely be visiting our world during the summer, in which case you'll likely need one of these," the old woman said to Lucy with a wink.

"Oh, well thank you," Lucy said to Aunt Mildred. She carefully removed the stork-covered paper and opened the box to see some sort of seat with straps on it. "Thank you. It's lovely," she said with a questioning look at Dinah. She didn't want to hurt the other woman's feelings but she had no clue what this would be used for. Alongside the seat were things she recognized and knew she could use. A book, some cloth nappies, and some teething rings for when the baby reached that stage.

Dinah smiled, "They're car seats, Lucy. It's not safe to hold a baby or have them loose in Muggle cars, and so you can strap them into these all snug and safe."

"Yes!" Aunt Mildred beamed, "And they are adjustable, you can use them as the baby grows. Although, you could probably just use magic for that sort of thing."

"A transfiguration spell could work," Dinah smiled, "But no. This is perfect. Thank you, Aunt Mildred," she said, hugging her Aunt.

"Oh! Yes," Lucy nodded, "these will be useful I'm sure! We owe Dinah a couple visits too. They keep coming over here or to Grimmauld Place on breaks."

"All right dears," Molly said, coming up to them and handing them each a squishy present. "Now there's a little something extra in each of them. Lucy I went and sent yours on ahead to Hogwarts and Dinah yours is upstairs."

Lucy ripped open her present. Inside was a tiny, hand-knit, blue-grey jumper with a yellow 'B' on it, with a picture of a cot tucked into the neck. "Oh. Aunt Molly you didn't have too," she said, rushing over to hug her aunt.

"I know dear," Aunt Molly said, patting her back, "We wanted to."

After a few heartfelt moments Molly shooed Lucy back to her seat so Dinah could open her package.

Dinah smiled as she lifted out a yellow-green jumper with a black 'S' on it, "Oh, thank you, Molly. I understand this is tradition. Oh, and the picture..." she pulled out the image and smiled again, "What a beautiful rocking chair. Thank you, this is really too much."

"Oh, it's nothing dear, really," Molly assured her.

"Yes, the jumpers are a family tradition," Lucy said, looking over at the little piece of clothing, "Everyone gets a Weasley jumper. Unfortunately none of mine fit anymore."

Dahlia smiled, "I'm so grateful for that wizard space of yours, keeping these things hidden and transporting them here so easily. That way I can surprise you both the way I intended," she said, disappearing into the room where they had stored her presents after beckoning Aunt Mildred to come and help her out.

The older women rolled two matching prams into the room and pushed them in front of Lucy and Dinah. Nestled in the prams were two large folded blankets. Dinah's was green with silver trim and snakes decorating it. Lucy's was a pale yellow with red and blue trim and it was covered in dogs and foxes. "Dinah told us what kinds of animals you liked and we had these custom ordered for you both," she explained, "There's one more thing for you, Dinah, but I wanted to show you both these first."

"Oh," Lucy gasped, pulling out another hankie and feeling the soft blanket, "These are wonderful! Thank you! I… I… don't know what to say. It's all so much."

"Not really," Dinah's mother said gently, sitting down next to Lucy, "You know, you were Dinah's first real friend in the wizarding world, save Severus. And she's confessed that it means so much to her that you will both be having your babies around the same time."

Lucy was forced to bury her face in the hanky lest anyone see just what her hormones were doing to her face. It was practically soaked with tears and her nose was running. "It means a lot to me too. I know I have Aunt Molly but it's nice to be able to talk face-to-face to someone who's going through similar things."

"Lucy," Dinah said gently, putting an arm around her shoulders and pressing something into her hand, "Here. It's the third one. Remember I said I brought three?" her tone was a mix of teasing amusement and concern.

"Thanks," Lucy said, lifting her face and offering Dinah a smile, "I came prepared too. In the last week Sirius has taken to carrying loads of handkerchiefs with him everywhere as well as stuffing my pockets full of them. It's so sweet of him."

"That _is_ sweet," Dinah smiled back, and then shifted her gaze to her mother, "Thank you, Mum. These are perfect."

"Of course. Now, then, we do have the expected. Here," she took a large box from Aunt Mildred and slid it over to Dinah. The picture on the outside indicated that it was a cot.

Dinah laughed, "Oh, Mum! 'Expected', maybe, but wonderful nonetheless," she started to try and get out of the couch but Mrs. Samson refused to allow it and instead walked over to hug her daughter.

"Well, you have all the biggest essentials now," she smiled, "But I have also bought a number of cards and small gifts from your other Muggle friends. We told them we'd deliver them to you in New Zealand. But you don't have to open those until you get home."

"Oh! Really? You didn't have to do that, Mum," Dinah shook her head, "I mean... I just figured over Christmas or over the summer I'd give them the news and if they wanted to give me something later, after the baby was born...

"Oh, nonsense, they're your friends and they have a right to know. I promise, no Secrecy Statute has been broken," her mother grinned, "I'll give you the items at the end of the day."

"Thanks, Mum."

"Dinah?" Lucy said, sure her face looked atrocious. She reached into her pocket, full of hankies, and pulled out a small package. "I know it's kind of extravagant but… well, I'll explain after you open it."

"Oh!" Dinah gasped, "I thought we were going to exchange our own gifts on a later date. Should I have...?" she fumbled for words as she took the package.

"Lucy's terrible with presents," Aunt Molly said to her niece's embarrassment, "She can't wait to see what's in them or to watch other people open theirs."

"It's fine," Lucy assured her. "I just wanted you to have this now. Well… you'll see."

Dinah tore the paper from the tiny present to reveal a small, velvet box. Inside the box was a thin gold chain with two charms hanging from it. Both were hearts, one was an emerald, the other a garnet.

"Green and... and red?" Dinah stammered, looking too stunned and confused to make further comment.

"Birthstones," Lucy explained, "It's Severus's fault for being born in January. His stone is a garnet. But there's also a pendant paid for at the jewelry shop in Diagon Alley for when the baby's born. I know you're due in February, but it seemed too much like tempting fate if I bought that now. Anyway," she said, reaching into her top and pulling out a similar necklace from which hung two hearts, garnet and blue topaz. "Sirius gave this to me last Saturday. He blames it for starting the crying."

"Oh, Lucy," Dinah whispered, cradling the necklace in her palm, her eyes lighting up and filling with tears now that she knew what the meaning of it was, "It's beautiful. And the idea of birthstones instead of house colors this time... it's just perfect... oh, give me that back!" she re-stole the handkerchief she had given Lucy, which had not been used yet.

Lucy giggled, instead of crying, "I told you I have plenty of those."

Dinah laughed, "I noticed. You lost some when you pulled the box out of your pocket," she pointed.

As Lucy gathered up the stray hankies her eyes strayed towards the front window, "Oh!" she gasped when she spotted a snow-covered, shaggy, black dog looking in. "Dinah? Do you think we could let him in?"

"Aww, yes, of course, let the puppy in!" Dinah gushed, her 'cute response' kicking in.

Lucy chuckled, letting Tonks help her off the couch. "You do realize he's probably going to shake snow all over everything right?"

"But he's cold," Dinah said with a sad face.

Lucy just shook her head and opened the door, allowing Snuffles inside.

"Oh, you have a pet dog?" Aunt Mildred asked when he entered. "You know, you really shouldn't leave him out in this cold, dear. Here dog. Here dog," she beckoned with her fingers.

Lucy clamped her lips shut as Snuffles turned his head to look up at her. Once the urge to laugh had subsided she said, "Go on, Aunt Mildred won't hurt you," to Snuffles before telling Mildred, "We don't leave him out all the time. He's _supposed_ to be at Hogwarts."

"Oh, how smart, coming all the way home," Aunt Mildred said, scratching him behind the ears, "Then again, dogs are known to do that."

Dinah turned to look at Lucy, "Can we tell, them, or...?" she left the question hanging.

Before Lucy could answer her Snuffles came over to Lucy and put his paws on her knees, getting ready to lick her. Knowing what he was going to do, Lucy grabbed his snout. "No," she said firmly, "You are not to lick my face. We've been over this." Keeping ahold of her dog's snout Lucy turned back to Dinah, "Go ahead. It's fine. Like I said, it's the worlds worst kept secret anyway."

Snuffles whined and pulled out of her grip, settling himself on the floor in front of her.

Dinah smiled, "Remember how I told you that some people can transform into animals? Animagi?" Amusingly, Mrs. Samson and Aunt Mildred nodded while Rosa shook her head 'no'.

Dinah laughed, "Sorry, Rosa. You're still new to this, so I haven't been able to cover everything yet. Well... um... this dog is Sirius Black."

"Not your husband?" Aunt Mildred shrieked, while Rosa still looked confused.

Lucy chuckled, "Yes, my husband."

"And I just scratched him?" Aunt Mildred shoved her hands behind her back, flushing a little.

Dinah laughed, "It's fine, Aunt Mildred. As a dog he's very affectionate. Aren't you, Snuffles?" she cooed, kneeling down and rubbing his belly.

Mrs. Samson raised an eyebrow, "I have a feeling her 'cute response' is overriding her logic here."

"Shh!" Dinah hissed, "Just let it be."

"We call him Snuffles in this form," Lucy told them, "And not that I'm really jealous or anything but Dinah, I think you're getting kind of close to the boundary line there." Snuffles, thankfully, was showing a little decorum for once and wasn't rolling over to let Dinah scratch his whole belly, just the part she could reach from his current position.

"Oh," Dinah turned bright red and pulled her hand back, hanging her head, "I'm sorry. I... I wasn't thinking. I never do. Sorry," she whispered, wiping her eyes with the handkerchief she was still holding.

"You do so," Lucy insisted, starting to feel a little teary for making her friend cry, "and it's not as if I never went too far messing with Severus before. I'm not upset. I just didn't want you to be terribly embarrassed later. Or have Severus get upset about where your hands were."

Snuffles moved to nudge Dinah's hand with his head, begging for more pats.

"Um... okay," Dinah said, smiling slightly through her tears as she pat him, lightly, a couple of times, "It's your fault, you know," she said to him, "Why do you have to look so much like a dog?"

The dog slowly transformed into Sirius, "Because I'm so loyal. And I'm really cute."

Dinah only blushed more and refused to meet his gaze, while the rest of the Muggles gasped collectively.

"Sirius, dear, really!" Aunt Mildred scolded, although Lucy wasn't really sure what she was scolding him about.

"I know I wasn't supposed to come," he admitted, helping Dinah up before sitting down next to Lucy, "but I got the cot all put together and I missed you," he kissed her, "and One," he kissed her again.

"Aww, how sweet, though highly untraditional," Aunt Mildred was saying, although Lucy wasn't paying much attention to her. "Oh! I know! If Sirius is here then Severus-"

"No, Aunt Mildred," Dinah cut in, still looking embarrassed but slowly getting back to normal, "That's not necessary."

"I'm afraid Professor Snape has a certain… dislike of the family," Molly said in an attempt to explain.

"And Remus wasn't very kind to him in school," Tonks added, "They've made peace about it but they prefer to avoid each other."

"Oh, that grouchy man," Aunt Mildred shook her head, "Although I suppose if he was mistreated in school... what are you nodding about, Dahlia? You knew all this already?"

"Some of it," Dinah's mother agreed.

"Nobody ever tells me anything!" Aunt Mildred pouted.

"I only told Mum and Dad because I wanted them to know the person I was marrying, Aunt Mildred," Dinah explained carefully, "It isn't that important, anyway. It's in the past."

"It is," Lucy assured her, "If he were really _that_ opposed to the Weasleys he wouldn't be friends with me and really Sirius was worse to him than Remus ever was. Though Severus and Sirius have sort of been forced to interact…"

"I'm not taking him back to Madam Puddifoot's," Sirius warned, "He didn't appreciate it last time. Wouldn't even hold my hand or acknowledge that he knew me."

Both of Aunt Mildred's eyes shot up her forehead before Dinah shrieked, "He's joking, Aunt Mildred, he's joking!" waving her arms in the air to make her point. "And the hand-holding thing is going a bit far, although I guess I deserve it," Dinah muttered, glancing shyly at Sirius. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't... do something wrong..." she bit her lip.

"No, not at all," Sirius assured her, "It can be hard to wrap your head around it, but even though I'm Snuffles, in that form I'm still a dog. Just with more of a human ability to reason out things."

"It's true," Lucy agreed, "Like that thing with Septimus last year. If I had been using my animal instincts instead of my human ones… well I think things would have turned out differently."

Dinah nodded, "I understand."

"Don't tell me that _you_ are an animal, too?" Aunt Mildred demanded.

"Um, yes," Lucy admitted, "I turn into a fox. I can't transform right now though," she added before anyone could ask. "I'm pregnant and it's dangerous."

"That makes sense," Mrs. Samson said approvingly, and then smiled, "And now the blanket animals make sense as well."

"Oh! Yes!" Lucy said, turning to grab the blanket out of the pram, "Look what Mrs. Samson got One!"

"That's very kind of you," he said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, "And you don't have to call me Mrs. Samson. Dahlia is just fine."

"All right," Lucy nodded, "That's so nice." Lucy started sniffling and Sirius grinned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a hanky. "I've already got one. Thank you," she said, holding out the handkerchief she was currently using.

"She has a hundred," Dinah teased, finally back to her normal self as she walked over to join them.

He looked around at the other mothers in the room, "This will stop eventually, won't it?"

Fleur shrugged, while Molly said, "Not likely until well after the baby is born. Consider yourself lucky though. I used to get quite snippy with Arthur."

"Mmm," Sirius murmured, taking the hanky from Lucy and wiping her eyes and cheeks. She was sleepy and had to look like she'd been crying for a week, but he still kissed her. And kissed her… and kissed her. He seemed to have no desire to end it and, quite frankly, neither did she.

"Well," Aunt Mildred, predictably, had something to say, "Well, well."

From somewhere near by Tonks said, "This is nothing. They're usually a lot worse. They're just… restricted."

"Restricted? What does that mean?"

"Oh, now we'll be here all night," Dinah said under her breath, rolling her eyes.

Pulling apart, Sirius muttered, "Sorry," to Dinah.

Lucy could feel herself starting to blush, "Well, we're, um… I… I... had some problems a couple months ago and sex is now off-limits. Healer ordered."

As expected, Aunt Mildred bombarded Lucy with questions for what felt like the next hour.

Near the end of Aunt Mildred's questioning Lucy's head drooped onto Sirius's shoulder and her eyes started to close. "I don't want to break up the party," he said, "but I should probably take her back to Hogwarts or at least upstairs."

"I'm not sleeping," Lucy managed to mumble.

"It is getting late, and we want to make it to the nearest hotel at a reasonable hour," Dahlia said, looking at a mysterious strap on her wrist. "Thank you so much for your hospitality, all of you. Lucy," she brushed past Aunt Mildred to stand in front of her, "Congratulations again. You have a lovely home and I'm glad we were able to come visit."

"Thanks Dahlia," she said, reaching up to hug the other woman, "You'll have to come again sometime."

"Well, if it's possible I'm sure Ed and I would love to come and meet the baby when it's born. We'll have come up to see Dinah's by then, of course, but I'm not opposed to extra visits," she teased.

Lucy grinned, "We'll see what we can do."

"Take care of yourself," she gave Lucy's shoulder a squeeze, "And drink lots of water tonight, before you go to sleep, okay?"

"I promise," she said, preparing herself for an invasion of Aunt Mildred.

"Thank you for having me!" the old woman exclaimed, throwing herself at both Lucy and Sirius at once, ''You threw a lovely party and I wish you nothing but the best with your future child. If I don't get to meet it before, you'll have to introduce me come summer, "she grinned when she let them go.

"Oh, we wouldn't mind if you came with Dahlia and Ed," Lucy said, even though Sirius gave her a look rather a lot like the one Severus would give to Dinah in the same situation.

"Wonderful! I won't let them forget it then!" the old woman cheered, causing Lucy to get another look from Sirius.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Rosa said, coming up to say good-bye next, "Maybe I'll see you over the summer sometime. Best of luck with the baby and congratulations again."

"Thanks for coming," Lucy said, "I'll bug Dinah about arranging a get-together this summer. Now that I've got a car seat I'm going to use it and I'm determined to get Dinah to let me try driving her car."

"I think it would be fine... in a car park," Dinah added hurriedly, grinning as she took the gold chain with the two hearts on it and slipped it around her neck, clasping it behind, "I think I'll wear this home now, if that's okay."

"It's fine, Dinah," Lucy yawned, "It's meant to be worn."

"I'll go with you to walk your family back to their cars," Sirius said, grinning as Lucy started snuggling down into the couch, "The family's going to stay the night here so they'll keep an eye on Lu until we get back."

"Thank you," Dinah smiled, "I just need to go and get that rocking chair and put everything in my bag with wizard space and then we can leave. Oh, and owl Severus! He wants to meet me outside the Hogwarts gates and walk me inside, and I can tell him that I'll be there in about a half an hour. I really shouldn't be walking alone through this snow, even across Hogwarts grounds."

Sirius nodded and waited for Dinah to pack up her things. When she came back down, Sirius leaned over and kissed Lucy on the cheek, "I'll be back in a little bit."

"Mmm," she hummed, "Thanks for doing this everyone. I had fun."

"We all had fun, too," Dinah said, hugging her good-bye, "See you on Monday?"

"Definitely," Lucy said, returning the hug. Soon the room was empty of everyone except for Tonks, Hermione, and the Weasleys, and Lucy could take a nap.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Apparating into view of the Hogwarts gates, Dinah smiled as she saw the dark silhouette of her husband standing in front of them. "Hi," she said, walking up to him and brushing some snow from his shoulders.

He smiled slightly and then inclined an eyebrow to the large object she held in her arms, "And what have you there?"

Dinah grinned and hugged the huge, soft bear tightly. She still didn't want to put Rosa's wonderful gift down, "A bear. It's for the baby. Isn't it adorable and soft?"

"You certainly seem to think so," he smirked, "From whom? As it is not… _doing _anything, I can only assume that it's a Muggle bear."

"There's nothing wrong with Muggle bears. And not all wizard stuffed toys do things," she informed him, not offended by his comment. He wasn't being disdainful. Just snarky. "And there's plenty more where that came from. It's all in my bag. Wizard space, you know?"

"I am familiar with the term, yes," his silken voice was rich with sarcasm.

Hugging the bear tight again, she stepped forward and rested her head on his chest, rubbing her face against the course cotton of his dark clothing, "Mmmm… dungeon bat robes," she purred, feeling content and a little sleepy.

"Are you… aroused?" Severus asked, and she could hear the raised eyebrow in his question.

"Mm," she shook her head, "Just snuggly. Sorry to disappoint."

"I am not disappointed," he assured her. "You never disappoint me. Come," he placed an arm around her shoulders, wrapping her in his cloak, and led them through the gates and towards the castle. Despite the cold weather and the crunching of snow beneath her feet, Dinah felt very warm. It would be nice to unwind after a long, but very good day.

As soon as they were secure in the dungeons Dinah placed her bag in the middle of the floor and waved her wand at it, causing all of the many objects she had gotten – from the pram to the cot to the car seat to the bassinet and rocking chair – to burst forth and grow to their normal sizes, effectively filling the room with gifts and baby things.

Severus just stared for a while, "This much is ours? Where do you imagine we will possibly have room for it?"

"Well, the baby's room, of course," Dinah smiled, resting her head on his shoulder and still holding the bear, "It's about time we added one on, don't you think?"

"I thought that we… ah…" he was being rather inarticulate, Dinah thought, though she didn't want to worry just yet. She lifted her head to meet his gaze, which had now refocused on the bear she was still holding, "You aren't going to put that down, are you?"

She giggled, "Nope. I adore it. Yeah, I know it's the baby's gift and not mine, but…" she shrugged.

"It is three times the size of any baby," Severus said.

"Yes… but that way they can sleep with it – or on it," she laughed, "I bet they will be so content with something this soft and cuddly in their cot with them. Oh! The cot. From Mum, you know. Let's assemble it," Severus just stared again as she waved her wand and the cot flew out of its box and assembled itself in front of them, taking its honorary place in the middle of the room, like a giant wooden flag set to honor their future child. It made Dinah feel both proud and very excited.

"We have some more gifts and cards to open, too," she informed her frozen husband, pointing to the pile of wrapped items that had emerged from her bag to sit on the floor near the green couch, "From the friends who think we're in New Zealand. You remember them from the summer? They gave us gifts, too."

"I… see…" he agreed, still staring. "All these items. In my – our dungeons. This is not… it hasn't even been a year since…. I was not expecting…"

"Severus?" Dinah frowned. His inarticulate issue seemed to be back.

"I am actually… going to have a baby. No!" he suddenly exclaimed, and Dinah was shocked to see him take a giant step back, his voice twisted with anxiety. "I-" he swallowed, "Dinah, I am not ready for this. Dinah, I-" he turned to her, his stunned gaze actually terrified, his eyes silently pleading for her to make it all stop.

For a split second she didn't know what to do. This was all so sudden. But her normal empathy kicked in quickly and she responded by setting the bear aside and placing a hand on her husband's back, preventing him from taking any further steps in reverse, "Severus. Severus, stop. Don't. It's all right," she murmured, reaching up to massage his neck and feeling a cautious bit of relief when his breathing started to return to normal, "Relax. You're just going through a little bit of shock, that's all. It's normal. The books all say it can happen."

"I don't know that I can do this, Dinah," he admitted, still looking nervous as he gazed out at the items filling their room. And Dinah immediately felt guilty for displaying it all in the way that she had, without thinking about his feelings. For her, as a mother, being pregnant, it was all so obvious and so simple, but to a father it was different. Especially someone like Severus who up until a year ago had essentially lived his life alone. He was going through another bit of realization that they were _actually _having a baby, but she understood that this was quite a bit more real than viewing a 'stubby mandrake' on an ultrasound. The 'stubby mandrake' was still inside Dinah, and thus had a certain 'distance' to it. But these items were a tangible, 'right there' symbol of the drastic changes that would be affecting their lives in just three short months. It was very different, and now she understood that.

"We'll do it together," she encouraged softly, sliding her hand down his arm and squeezing, "You'll do fine."

"What if I-"

"No. You won't. If you've never harmed me, why would you harm our baby?"

"I will _never_ harm our baby," he said, and it was almost as if he was realizing his certainty for the first time.

"Exactly," she smiled.

Severus sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry. Thank you," he murmured, taking her hand into his and kissing her palm, "I don't know what that was."

"Just a panic moment, darling. We all have them. This is quite a new adventure for both of us."

"Indeed. I'm starting to think fighting the Dark Lord again might be less of a challenge."

She laughed, "Probably in many ways."

He finally smiled a bit, slowly regaining his normal demeanor. Then his eyes drifted to her chest, "Is that new?" he asked.

Dinah grinned, fingering the pendant Lucy had given her, "Yes, it is. From Lucy. I know, just what I need, right? More jewelry," she teased.

"Green and red? This isn't some bizarre attempt to symbolize Sirius's and my semi-reconciliation, is it?" he demanded, his eyebrow going up.

"Mm," she shook her head, "Though I almost wondered that too, at first. Either that or an early Christmas present, with the colors. But no. They're our birthstones." When his gaze softened at the realization, she went on, "And Lucy says that when the baby is born there is another paid for at Diagon Alley… we can put it in-between our two stones," she blushed as Severus's soft fingers brushed against her chest, moving to take the two pendants into his hands.

"That is a… surprisingly meaningful gift," he murmured.

"Oh, what do you mean 'surprisingly'?" Dinah teased, "It's from Lucy. She's always thoughtful. I thought we were going to exchange gifts at a later date like we talked about, and I guess we still are, but she wanted to give this one… now…" Dinah trailed off when she saw the soft way in which her husband was looking at her. She let her eyes flutter shut as his lips gently landed on her own, and just felt the familiar contact as his tongue lightly caressed hers, overwhelmed by the feel of his lips and his warmth and his scent.

When they were through she wrapped her arms around his waist and slid them up his back, resting her head on his chest as he held her close. Her lower position against him due to her pregnancy was not so low that she couldn't still feel his long dark hair brushing against her forehead, and she savored the feeling. A year ago today he had still been flinching at her touch and they had only shared two very brief kisses. Now, they were like this.

It was truly amazing how fast everything had happened.

"I love you," his deep voice was so soft, his fingers moving to stroke her hair.

"I love you, too," she whispered against his chest, pressing her head in closer.

"There is no person I would rather have this… unique, upcoming adventure with," he continued in that same soft tone, taking a careful step back and lifting her face to kiss her once more.

Dinah felt her eyes tear up a little but would not let them fall as she nodded. Her hormones were not _quite _as bad as Lucy's and she was determined to keep them that way. Her husband noticed her expression, though, and brushed his thumb gently across her cheek, kissing her again softly on the forehead; "You are right, however. If we do not add on a baby's room we will have no place for all of these things. But, we still plan to keep the cot in our bedroom for the first few months?"

"Oh, of course," she nodded. "We'll just have to be more creative about the times and places where we…" she grinned.

"Mm, indeed," he smirked. "I am sure that will not be a problem."

"No, we can be quite creative when necessary," she laughed, "Shall I show you the remainder of the gifts now? Would that be all right?"

"I'm sure I can handle it. Now," he sighed a little, shaking his head at his previous behavior, but returned her smile when she grinned at him again. "I have a feeling this may take some time, though. And we will open the gifts from all of the other Muggles?"

"All of our other _friends_. Repeat that," she teased.

Another sigh, "All of our other friends."

"Very good. And yes, we'll open those too."

* * *

><p>About an hour later, Severus demanded, "Why does every single one of these cards have to say 'Good luck with the Aborigines'?"<p>

Dinah covered her mouth to try and stifle her laughter from where she sat next to him on the couch, half-facing him with her ankles crossed as she read her own stack of cards, "Oh, Sev, relax. Honestly, do you have something _against _Aborigines?"

"You ask me that every time and every time I tell you 'no', but I greatly dislike making up these farcical stories about what I do with my life. Honestly, sometimes I think it would be easier if this whole infernal Statute of Secrecy were just abolished!" he snarled, waving his hand across the air in front of him to emphasize his point.

"Well, if I'd have known converting you was this easy I'd have brought up Aborigines during our first debate," she teased.

"You don't want to abolish the Statute," he reminded her with a weary sigh.

"No, because it would never work, but sometimes I do _wish _that it were possible. Oh, and speaking of things I wish would happen, I haven't heard a thing from the Ministry about my dragon issue. I might have to send an owl to prod them along if I don't hear by the end of next week."

"Whatever you see fit to do," he sighed again, opening the last card in his pile and reading it, "Aborigines again. Honestly. But, they have provided another slip of odd Muggle paper with an amount of money on it. And their well-wishes are good to hear. Now," he set it down on the coffee table and scooted over to sit closer to Dinah just as she reached down and lifted up the big stuffed bear again, having finished the last of her cards as well, "Shall we do something more enjoyable?" he asked, sliding a hand along her back and up her neck.

Dinah felt his caresses, but she was more interested in the bear right now, regarding its soft, cute face with a frown of consideration, "Isn't this just the cutest gift ever?"

"If you say so," he murmured, his dark hair tickling her bare skin as he lowered his lips to her neck.

"What do you think we should name this bear, Severus?"

"Does it matter? The child will name it," he purred, licking, nipping, and kissing.

"Yes, I suppose. But that could be a whole year or more after it's born. This poor bear can't go on that long without a _name_."

"It is not _alive_, Dinah," Severus sighed, exasperated, "Not even close, as it is as Muggle bear. Now, focus," he returned to his previous action.

"But-" Dinah protested, tilting her head to allow him the better access he was demanding, but still worried about the bear, "It's alive to _us_, and to the baby. It's alive in our hearts."

Her husband growled again and shook his head, "Dinah, I am sitting here kissing your neck and all you can think about is naming a stuffed bear? What happened to those aptly-named 'sexy hormones'?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling another type of hormone settle in for the attack as she hugged the bear and buried her face in its soft brown fur. She knew she was acting funny, but she really couldn't explain why. She just felt different all of a sudden. "I just want the bear to be happy. I love this bear."

She heard Severus sigh again, but he stopped kissing her neck and instead massaged her shoulders, "You are acting strange all of a sudden. Perhaps you need to rest. Or eat. Did you eat at the shower?"

Dinah nodded, feeling her eyes fill up with tears. She fought them back. She had said earlier that she would not let these hormones get as bad as Lucy's, but… maybe just for one night… if she couldn't fight them. She turned and looked back up at her husband, "I ate. I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me," she told him, feeling the tears start to fall.

He just stared at her, more taken back than anything, "I never said there was something- Dinah, what are you- You were _fine _two minutes ago! Teasing me about Aborigines!"

"Sorry," she whispered again.

"Don't apologize! Stop... please, stop this. Why are you crying?" he took a handkerchief and gently wiped at her tears as she lost her grip on the bear and turned to face him fully, closing her eyes and indulging in the gentle feel of the cloth and his fingers on her face, and in the fact that he cared so much.

"I need to talk to you," she admitted, sniffling and trying to hold her tears back as best she could, reaching into the pocket of her robes and taking out the bit of stimulant he had told her to take if she needed it at the shower. She had lied to Lucy and the others when she said she didn't have any with her. It had been in her pocket the whole time. She pressed it into his hands and held them, "Remember how… when we started with this appetite stimulant thing it was just because you were worried about my odd eating habits. It was just one day and I let you brew the stimulant more for your amusement than anything… I almost forgot how it started… funny, isn't it?" she asked, releasing his hands to swipe at her eyes.

"What is this about?" Severus demanded, his tone darkening a few degrees.

"Don't be mad at me!" she squeaked, chastising herself inwardly for acting in this way but unable to stop herself.

"Mad at you?" he went back to being baffled, "Dinah, this is ridiculous. Tell me what's wrong or I can do nothing."

"It's just… this whole thing has gotten out of hand. I got… scared. I got scared that maybe there was something wrong with the baby because I have to take all of these stimulants and suppressants and look at clocks and wait for five minutes and try to avoid doubling up and… and… everything…" her resolve was dwindling again.

"Why didn't you tell me if -"

"I wasn't keeping anything from you!" she sobbed, snatching the handkerchief from him and clutching it to her face, "I promise I wasn't. It was only in the back of my mind and I never let myself think too much about it until earlier today. I wasn't trying to hide anything, I promise."

"I didn't think you were hiding anything," he murmured, his arms wandering to her waist to pull her closer to him, "Calm down. I am not- I was not trying to- scare you, I have only been-"

"I know. I know. Lucy told me to talk to Mum and I did and I think… I think that I'm okay and that this eating thing is a normal pregnancy issue just made a little worse because I have funny eating habits in the first place. But I know you are only trying to help out of love… especially after… our big fight earlier this year… and…"

"Stop. Don't. That has nothing to do with this. That was an unfortunate occurrence that should not have happened. We both acted out and… things got out of hand. But I _trust_ you, Dinah. You cannot be expected to tell me every passing thought you ever have and I know that. I never intend to accuse you of lying to me like that ever again. You need to believe that. Please."

"I do," she whimpered, nodding, "I just got scared. The longer I took the stimulant the more I believed that I _had _to take it. But then I got to thinking… if there was no magic or no stimulant-"

"I would encourage you to eat in a different manner," he concluded.

"Exactly!" she exclaimed putting her hands on his shoulders and looking anxiously into his dark eyes, "So you see, I'm just like any other pregnant woman! Right? I'm okay!"

"Of course you're okay. Are you trying to tell me that you want to stop taking the stimulant? I'd rather you not, but if it's that important to you…"

"Oh, I love you!" she shrieked, kissing him, her hormones now throwing her all over the place, "But no. This has proven to be a good method. I just needed you to admit that I'm okay and that… but…" she felt her eyes widen as a million spinning thoughts seemed to hit her at once, "Wait a minute, what if all pregnant women with food cravings are having unhealthy pregnancies? Or… what if changing how I naturally want to eat is the_ problem_? I mean, maybe I'm not hungry because the baby's not hungry so if I take the stimulant it hurts it! But then every woman everywhere whose husband is trying to get her to eat is messing with the pregnancy… but they still have healthy children… but if pregnancies are healthy why should anybody have to change anything or interfere in any way? Shouldn't your body do everything on its own? So are all pregnancies healthy or are all pregnancies unhealthy? Or should I-"

"Stop," he ordered again. "You are thinking too much. You are thinking _entirely _too much."

"I know," she admitted with a sigh, wiping her eyes with the hanky again.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Hormones?" she shrugged, and then grinned through her tears, thinking how ironic it was that despite all her efforts to the contrary she was currently behaving _just _like Lucy, "Welcome to the third trimester, Professor Snape. You have yet to face a greater threat in your entire career, I'm sure."

"I don't doubt it," he muttered, and then frowned at her, "How can you make jokes and cry at the same time?"

"I'm talented?" she suggested, and then was quickly overwhelmed by hormones again and buried her face in his neck, just letting the tears go.

"Dinah," he murmured, hugging her close and stroking her hair. A few minutes – or hours, she wasn't really sure – passed in his comforting embrace before he finally said, "You need to sleep. That is clearly most important right now."

"Mm," she whimpered, nodding. "It's been a long day. It was fun but there were hard parts too. And the Snuffles thing… I have to tell you about the Snuffles thing. I did something wrong. I… I forgot who he was and I tried to rub his belly and Lucy said I was almost crossing a boundary and I felt so rotten and stupid. And… and she said you might get jealous or annoyed and I said I was sorry but I- I- I-" She was babbling now, but she could not shut up.

"Dinah, I just finished telling you that I trust you. Were you not listening to that?"

"I- I was," she assured him, clutching his robes.

He sighed, "What was that infernal dog doing at the baby shower anyway?"

"Missed Lucy. Wanted to snog. I guess. They did enough of it while there. Aunt Mildred had a lot of comments about that."

"All unsurprising. Come. You need to sleep," he started to help her from the couch but she would not loosen her grip.

"I didn't do anything wrong?" she whispered, so softly she could barely hear even herself.

"Dinah, you are perfect, I love you, and you have never done anything wrong. Now stop worrying over nothing and come to bed with me."

"I love you, too."

"I know you do. Come to bed," Dinah finally consented to loosen her grip and let him lead her gently to the bedroom. She was too exhausted to do anything and he seemed to understand and be fine with that as he climbed in with her, not bothering to change either of them into nighttime robes, and pulling her into his arms.

She managed a slight smile, "Mm. This reminds me of that first night, in our day robes… but this time…"

"This time I will never let you go. Now go to sleep," his voice was soothing, and Dinah could do nothing but obey.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Severus watched his wife sleep, her eyes still red from crying, but her face clean and her breathing slow and peaceful as she got the rest and deep sleep she so obviously needed.

She was right, of course. This 'third trimester' was going to be a challenge, in some ways one greater than any he'd faced yet. But he was prepared for the challenge. Even, oddly enough, welcomed it. Because it was a different sort of challenge than the ones he'd faced before. And he wasn't facing it alone.

It still baffled him that only a year ago he _had_ been alone. His life had changed so fast, so he did not know why he had had that 'panic moment' earlier about it changing further. If the changes Dinah had brought about had been this wonderful surely the changes brought about by a baby of both his and hers would be equally wonderful, although, again, a challenge.

Merlin, she was beautiful. And he needed her to be comfortable, secure, well-rested, and happy. He had never _cared _quite this strongly before, not even for Lily. Was still surprised at the gentleness in his hands as he continued to stroke Dinah's soft hair, never stopping from the moment she had laid down with him. A year ago he would never have known he had the capacity to be this gentle. But it was easy with her. Everything was easy with her.

Her presence in his life had surprised both of them in so many ways, leading finally to where they were now. But, he fully believed that she of all people had finally been the one to show him who he truly was. He only hoped he could do half as much for her in their lifetime as she had already done for him. Then again, he knew how she felt about him. There was something… indescribably perfect about being in a loving relationship that was completely mutual on both sides.

Severus felt a slight smirk form at the direction his thoughts had taken. Though he was getting used to being this sappy, too, when Dinah was involved. But only Dinah. She was the only one that could do this to him, at least right now. Although that infernal Lucy was trying to break through his defenses now as well, and then of course there was the impending baby. He was going to be forced to soften further in the future; it was quite obvious. Hopefully, at least, no one rushed him too much on that front.

But at this exact, very moment, the only thing that mattered was making sure Dinah was comfortable. She was right. Tonight had been so much like that first night in the dungeons with her, the first time he had had a woman in his bed a little over a year ago. When she had divulged her prophecy to him and, like tonight, exhausted herself from crying. It had torn him apart then as it always did now to see her like that, but now he was better equipped to handle it. And now, unlike then, he could offer her much more than just sharing a bed.

So much more. And he was never going to let her forget it.

"I will give you anything and everything," he found himself murmuring, leaning over and pressing a once again uncharacteristically – at least he had once _thought _it was uncharacteristically – gentle kiss to her forehead, and then letting his eyes close. It was finally getting late now, and he had to sleep as well.

She would be fine now. He would see to that.

* * *

><p>Dinah was pleased to awaken to find her face buried in Severus's warm chest, her arms locked around his waist, and herself surrounded yet again by his scent and his dungeon bat robes. It still amazed her, from time to time, that she had been completely alone a little over a year ago and now had <em>this <em>to wake up to.

These wonderful robes and this warmth were too precious to ever lose. Not that she had any worries on that front. Severus Snape was hers forever. That silly Dylan had _nothing _on this man, that was certain!

"You seem to be awake," Severus, probably sensing her motion as she had inhaled him and snuggled herself deeper into his chest, murmured silkily into her ear, his hair tickling her face and making her rested heart race a little.

"Mm," she agreed, lifting her head to meet his gaze and his lips, but she was obviously still not 'rested ' enough to suppress a yawn, "Sorry. Guess I'm still a little exhausted from yesterday. Thank you… by the way…" she said softly, remembering last night's 'attack of the hormones' and how kind and sweet Severus had been in helping her through them.

"My pleasure," he murmured, his gaze softened as he kissed her again, "However, as it is Sunday and you did exhaust yourself so much, I believe you should rest today. Punctuated, of course, with a little healthy exercise to get you ready for the return to normal life on Monday," his added, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Anything you say," she purred back, smiling as she slid her arms up around his neck, "How can I argue with the medical advice of the man who is so good at making me feel better?"

"You can't, I imagine," he said with a smile, looking quite flattered by her comment. "But first I believe you should drink some water and eat something. It would have been better if you had last night, but there's nothing we can do about it now. I will be back in a moment. Is there anything in particular you'd like?"

"Just you," she teased, "But since you're going to make me wait I'll have scrambled eggs, toast, kippers, porridge, crumpets with jam, and fresh fruit. If it's not too much trouble," Dinah grinned.

"Never. I adore your ridiculous requests," he said, kissing the tip of her nose and extracting himself from the covers, "I should not be long."

Dinah felt cold and lonely the minute he left her side, "Even so," she said, making him stop halfway to the door and turn a raised eyebrow back to her, "Since you're going to leave me all alone in here for a bit I need something to snuggle in your place. Do you mind bringing me that bear?"

For some reason, that comment caused an annoyed smirk to appear on his face. He removed his wand and levitated the large plush from the living area before holding it out in front of her, "This bear? The one that you insist upon naming and obsessing over and wearing out before the baby even gets a chance to look at it?"

She laughed, "Honestly, Sev, you'd think you were jealous of it! Yes, _that _bear. Or, if you didn't want me to take the bear I could always hug the warm, cozy, Weasley jumper-" she broke off into more laughter as he threw the bear rather violently at her. The best way to get him to give her something he found offensive was to mention something even more offensive as an alternative. "Nice throw."

"Are you happy now?" he demanded.

Dinah grinned and settled the bear onto her lap, hugging it from behind and resting her chin comfortably over the middle of its head, "Very. You know, I think this is my third trimester affliction. Acting silly and childish. You'll just have to deal with it," she said, giggling and smiling happily up at him.

"Oh, is that your affliction?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, but his lips twitched oddly as he regarded her and she recognized the expression. He was fighting a smile.

"Admit it, you think I'm cute," she pressed, still smiling.

"I will not say that word. I prefer… endearing," he finally allowed the expression to form on his face.

"Well, they mean essentially the same thing, but okay," she smiled, "Hey, at least I don't have Lucy's affliction. Well, yesterday evening was one thing but I don't think it's going to be like that all the time… at least not much… I hope…" she trailed, frowning at the idea.

Now, her husband looked apprehensive, "And what is Lucy's affliction?"

"Mm, well, her weepiness from the first trimester seems to be back in spades. She carries around at least twenty handkerchiefs in her robe pockets. Some from me, some from Sirius, and some hers. I saw it at the baby shower. But don't worry! I don't think I'll be so bad… I think stuff like last night might happen _sometimes_, but not all the time. I mean, I feel fine now," she assured him.

"I hope so," he frowned, "I suppose I'll have to avoid her like the plague, then, won't I?"

"Oh, be nice. I know it's awkward, but…" she shrugged.

Severus sighed, "You said she was emotional on Wednesday at your Game Night, but not that it was this bad."

"Well, I suspected it, but I wasn't certain until yesterday. I had hoped maybe it was just a one-time thing, but I wasn't sure I believed it…"

A pleased smile appeared on her husband's face, "You see then? You don't have to tell me every thought you ever have right when you have it. And I won't accuse you of being a liar."

Dinah laughed, "Oh, Sev, I know that," she crooked a finger at him, "Come here."

"No," he shook his head, "You need food and water first."

"Oh, just for a minute. I want to kiss you one more time before you leave me."

"As though I will be leaving you for days," he muttered, rolling his eyes, but consenting to come over, sitting sideways on the bed and leaning over to press a kiss to her lips. The minute she felt the contact she looped her arm around his neck and held him in tight to her, intent on not letting him go.

"Dinah, you _need _to eat!" he protested, shoving back on her when she let him breathe.

"After," she insisted, lowering her eyelids and moving her lips to his neck.

"No! Not after! Now!" his protests were tantalizingly weak, though, until he finally shoved at her again, "Dinah, I do not want you to exhaust yourself and have you pass out from starvation or dehydration in the middle of our act. Let me go get your food."

She sighed and lowered her hand to rest in his lap, on a part of him that seemed less inclined to protest, "Are you sure you can handle leaving me now?" she teased.

He winced, "It can wait five minutes. It will only take me that long. And once you've drunk a full glass of water and eaten… five bites of food, then I will relent." He moaned and closed his eyes when she pressed down on him a little, "Fine, three minutes and three bites. Now let me go."

"All right," she removed her hand and stopped torturing him for the time being, instead turning her gaze to the other big thing she was still holding, "Uh oh, I think I've scandalized this poor bear."

"Again, the infernal thing is not alive," he snarled, standing carefully from the bed and leaving to go get the food and water he was so insistent upon giving her, while Dinah laid back down on the bed to cuddle the soft bear and pretend it was Severus when he returned, probably only scandalizing the poor thing further with her thoughts about what she would do to her sexy dungeon bat when she got him back in her clutches.

It was three minutes exactly when Severus got back, sitting on the bed with a tall glass of water and a bowl of porridge, beckoning her to sit back up as he handed her the steaming bowl, "Porridge was all the house elves could do in three minutes. But we will have the rest as a pleasant breakfast in bed after I am finished with you. How does that sound?"

"It sounds _perfect_¸ Severus. You're a genius," she smiled, setting the bowl in her lap and taking the glass of water from him, drinking it down in one gulp while her sweet, doting husband carefully moved the hot bowl from her lap and onto the bed sheets in front of her, taking it away from her pregnancy, which was probably a good idea anyway.

She was surprised at how good it did feel to get that water in her system after last night's tears. It was quite refreshing. Next she took her designated three bites of porridge.

"Those are the three largest bites I've ever seen anyone take of anything, even you," Severus said with a smirk, although he nodded with satisfaction before teasing, "Are you certain you don't want to eat the rest of it? Clearly you're hungry."

"Mm," she shook her head, sliding her right hand along his face and into his hair, "You are still number one over food, my love. Always." His gaze softened and he met her lips as they pushed the food items away and leaned back on the bed together, ready to begin a wonderful day of all sorts of indulgences.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Ten minutes left in class and everyone was quietly reading their books. Lucy took the opportunity to rest her feet and sit back in her chair. It never failed though, the instant she looked down to go over some parchments recently turned in there was a group of students at her desk. She'd given them leave to come to her without raising their hands since she'd gotten farther along in her pregnancy. It was too much of a hassle to be constantly getting up and down, plus she'd developed a habit of not noticing the students hands in the air for an inordinate amount of time.

"Professor Black?" Jania asked, with Tad and a small group of their friends surrounding her. Septimus, she noted, was hovering behind the group. "We…well, there's only ten minutes left in class and we were wondering how you and Professor Snape's baby shower went?"

"Oh, it went well. Thanks for asking," Lucy smiled. Her eyes, of course were watery but kept the tears from falling for the moment.

"Good," Jania smiled, "Well, we just wanted to give you this," she set a small, wrapped gift on the desk, "We pooled some money together and picked this out of a catalogue. We hope you like it. You don't have to open it now," she insisted when Lucy reached for the package. "Not everyone from class put in for it and I don't want them to feel bad or anything."

"All right," Lucy said, "I'll save it until tonight. Thank you, by the way," Lucy smiled, watching as all the students made their ways back to their seats. All except Septimus that was. He continued to hover awkwardly near the side of her desk.

"Here," he muttered, thrusting a second small package into her hands. "Mum said to give you this. I guess she thinks you're all right now that you married Black and are a pureblood and all. I still think this class is stupid and I hate coming here though!"

He'd rushed back to his seat before Lucy could formulate some sort of reply. It wasn't as if she hadn't known about Septimus's feelings about her and her class before but…did he really need to voice his opinions? The gesture from his mother was nice enough she supposed... Why did he have to be such a hateful little boy? She knew better than to try and reform him but…

With only a couple minutes left in class she had gone from the silent, gentle crying she's started out with to loud sobbing and gasping for breath. The students all stopped reading and stared at her. Some seemed to look concerned, others scared, and one or two rose from their seats, but stood there, not knowing what to do. "I'm…fine," she gasped, "It's…just…" she shook her head, not able to explain herself to fourteen-year-olds. "Class…dismissed."

Lucy heard the students stuffing their books back into their bags and scurrying out of the room. Even Jania. She wasn't surprised really. They probably all thought she was crazy. She even thought she heard someone say something about 'Professor Black having some sort of fit in there' and 'shouting at us to leave'.

She smacked the gift from Septimus's mother onto her desk, only partially grateful that she didn't hear anything break. This was probably the first time she'd felt like throwing things around the room and actually tried to stand up to grab something.

"Lucy!" a voice exclaimed from the doorway. "What's happened?"

Plopping back down in her seat, Lucy wiped her eyes and saw Dinah looking concerned and Severus looking down his nose at her, a look she'd seen before on his face. "I…I…"

Dinah hurried forward and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and Severus stormed over there and stopped in front of her desk, that look not having left his face. "Lucy, what is going on here?" Dinah asked, "The students said you were having some sort of fit. What is this about? Tell me!"

"I'm not having a fit!" she said, louder than she intended, "I'm just upset! It's these stupid hormones!" she sobbed, snatching a handkerchief out of her pocket and blowing her nose.

"That is no excuse," Severus snarled.

"Be nice," Dinah said to her husband, "Obviously something has happened. Lucy, I wasn't accusing you of anything I was just repeating what I heard. Now, calm down, it's all right. Just tell us," she said, gently.

"I am not equipped to deal with this, hormones or no hormones," Severus growled, slamming his hand onto the desk and glaring straight into Lucy's tear-filled eyes, "You _do not_ lose control in front of your students. Are you _trying _to sabotage your position here?"

"Severus!" Dinah shouted at her husband, here tone both appalled and angry.

Severus just bared his teeth and snarled at her, turning and storming from the room.

"Get Sirius in here before you go off and stew," Dinah called after him bitterly, but her husband gave no indication that he had heard her before disappearing out the door.

Lucy sniffled and took a few breaths, shoving the gift from Septimus farther away from her, "Severus is right. They all probably think I'm crazy now…It's just…well it's nothing I didn't already know anyway."

"Ignore him," Dinah said, shaking her head, "He was being completely insensitive. He just doesn't know how to deal with this kind of thing. If he's going to have that attitude it's better that he's gone."

"Oh, please don't fight over me," she sniffed, fingering the gift back towards her now, "It's not…" she thought about it and decided to reword her sentence, "It's not that big of a deal."

Dinah shook her head, "Married couples fight, Lucy. It's normal. And I'm not going to be very happy with him later, but I promise you it will be nothing like what happened earlier in the year. I just have to give him a stern talking-to, that's all. Now," she encouraged, "Tell me what it is that's got you so upset. It looks like you received a gift?"

"Two," she tried to grin as she grabbed the less abused gift from Jania and her friends, "A few of the students went in on this one. I promised Jania I'd wait until later to open it though."

"Oh," Dinah smiled at her, "Of course. I received one too, earlier today. It was very sweet of them, wasn't it? But ... this doesn't seem to be one of your 'happy' hormonal responses. You look like you've been hurt."

"I'm…acceptable," she muttered, not really wanting to relive the experience, but Septimus _had_ hurt her and you told your friends about things that had upset you. "Mrs. Peaks sent this along and had Septimus give it to me. Because _I_ married a Black and _I'm_ a pureblood. And just because Septimus had an opinion does he really have to voice them?"

Dinah sighed, "That rotten little git. What did he say to you?_ Someone _should take points for it, whatever it was."

"He thinks my class is stupid and he hates coming here. It's not like I didn't already know that but _why_ did he have to say anything? And I'm supposed to be grateful for this gift? Really?"

Dinah sighed again, taking the gift from Lucy and tracing the little black ribbon that had been wrapped around it, "There is no excuse for saying that to an authority figure, you're right. He should be disciplined for that. But the gift is from his mother, not him, although it's a completely twisted reason for buying you a present, I'll say that much..." she shook her head, sighing a third time before turning her attention back to Lucy, "You okay now?"

Lucy shrugged, "I guess so but…" she shook her head. She wasn't sure she could tell Dinah her husband was right again without explaining about the Board of Governors letters. "I should probably go find my husband. If your husband found him first I can only imagine what's going on."

Dinah shook her head, "I doubt Severus stayed long enough to get into an argument with Sirius if he saw him. Let's-"

"Lucy?" she looked up and saw Sirius coming towards her, looking concerned, "What's wrong? Severus said you were 'in hysterics' and that I had to take care of it. Actually it was more like he ordered me to take care of it."

She levered herself out of her chair and launched herself at her husband. "I'm not in hysterics," she mumbled into his chest.

"Sorry," she heard Dinah mutter, "Severus overreacted a bit. I'll scold him later."

"It's fine," Sirius said as he started rocking with Lucy. She didn't think he knew it yet but he was going to be a wonderful father. And probably a soothing one. "So, I guess you don't want to eat in the Great Hall then?"

"No," she said, shaking her head, "I probably should but no. I hope that's okay Dinah?"

"That's fine. I'll just go get a quick bite in there and then get down to the dungeons and yell at my husband. You relax and talk to yours."

"Okay," she nodded, and turned to Sirius, "Just let me grab a couple things and we can head back to the rooms."

"And when we get there we're ordering up some dinner," Sirius said.

"Yes, sir," Lucy said, genuinely smiling for the first time that evening.

* * *

><p>"I don't even want to open it," Lucy said, staring down at the offensive little package with its little black ribbon. She'd already gone through telling Sirius about what had happened, and talked him out of killing one of her students, but still both of them sat on the couch staring at the gift from Septimus's mother.<p>

"I think you should." When she gave him a look that clearly said he was insane, Sirius continued, "Look, I don't like them any more than you do. In fact you probably like them more. But she did send a gift. Maybe she's trying to flatter you or something. After all you are a pureblooded member of the illustrious Black family now. And we all know purebloods have to stick together so maybe the Peaks kid has a younger sibling and she's hoping to arrange a marriage."

"That," Lucy sputtered, "is ridiculous."

"Well, I never said I'd consent to such a thing," he said, his eyes twinkling with laughter. He leaned forward and picked up the present, setting it in her shrinking lap. "Open it," he encouraged, "don't let it become this big scary thing that sits in our living room."

She sighed. He was right. If she didn't open it now it would just sit on the coffee table until one of the house elves took it away. She tugged on the ribbon, slowly opening the present. Inside she found a pair of oval earrings, made of gold, and black, polished stones.

"Oh, good," Sirius said, "We're having a girl apparently. Either that or we're having a son who will be wearing not one, but two earrings. And very girly ones at that."

"Bill wears an earring," Lucy said, trying to keep from laughing.

"Yes, but it's only one and it's very manly," he returned, leaning into her and laughing.

Laughing with him, Lucy was glad they'd found each other. She needed someone to be understanding of her moods but able to lift her up out of them and he did that so wonderfully. Most times without her even noticing. "Actually," she said, withdrawing a small note from the box, "I think they're for me."

"Oh," he said, obviously pretending to be mortified, "Really? Are you sure? Because I think they're obviously a betrothal gift for the baby."

"I can see where you'd think that," Lucy agreed, "but…" she broke off when Sirius leaned down to kiss her, leaving their dinner that had just arrived on the dining table to cool. Maybe the Peaks' present hadn't been such a bad thing after all.

* * *

><p>Dinah finished a rather decent-sized meal in the Great Hall and was now on her way back to the dungeons to have it out with the sadistic dungeon bat. Actually, her husband whom she loved but was very pissed off at right now.<p>

She found him sitting at the kitchen table scrawling on a parchment, probably something for class. He looked up upon hearing her enter but the frown and smirk he offered her before turning back to the parchment indicated that his move had not improved.

Well, she would just have to say something about that.

She marched up to where he sat and yanked the parchment out from under his hands, causing him to nearly stab the table with his quill, "What was that all about today?" she demanded.

He looked up at her and growled, "You are wrinkling my lesson plan."

"To hell with your _lesson plan_, Severus. Why did you say that to Lucy?"

"Because it is the truth. She should not have lost control of her emotions in front of the students. It will not reflect positively on her image as a teacher."

Dinah sighed and shook her head, "That may be true, but that was not the time to say so. That's what Lucy's been terrified about this whole time and telling her that in the middle of an episode was only going to make things worse. Besides, one incident isn't going to cause Minerva to sack her."

"No, but repeat instances need to be prevented, or she _will _reach that point."

"Again, maybe true, but that's not what you were thinking when you got in her face and said those things. You were letting your _own _emotions – anger – control you right then. Because you couldn't handle her outburst. Don't scowl at me; you know it's the truth! Up until today you have been at least somewhat supportive of Lucy but now you are only serving to further her panic."

"Someone needs to teach her to control her emotions so that this doesn't happen again," he said darkly, "Someone needs to toughen her up."

"_But not right then_," she emphasized with a pointed look, "And not using those harsh words. You can't reason with her until you calm her down, Severus. You know that."

"Perhaps you are right about that," he said, his tone flippant and indicating that he really just wanted to drop the subject. He reached for his parchment.

Dinah deftly pulled it out of his reach, "I need you to apologize to Lucy."

That comment earned her another scowl from him, "Is that so?"

"You didn't need to speak to her like that. It was harsh and unkind and your warning was premature anyway. You know that I'm right. You need to apologize."

He glared at her but she glared right back. After a few minutes of staring each other down he finally heaved an agitated sigh, "Fine. I will apologize."

"And you will mean it sincerely."

"What do I have to do to convince you? Yes, I will mean it sincerely. Now give me back my lesson plan!" he exclaimed.

Dinah considered her husband. She knew he really did care about Lucy in his own way, and a part of him _had _been trying to toughen her up; "You don't want her to get sacked, do you? If you did, or if you didn't care either way, you wouldn't bother trying to prevent it. You want her to stay here."

"What would I gain from having Lucy sacked?"

"Well, a Sirius-free Hogwarts, for one," she teased, "But you _do_ care. I trust that your apology will reflect that."

"Is that an acknowledgment or an order?" Severus demanded with a raised eyebrow.

"Both, I think," she said with a slight smile, placing the parchment back down in front of him and running her hand across the smooth surface, "See? I didn't wrinkle it."

"Much appreciated," he said with a smirk, but as their gazes met he also managed a bit of a smile.

Dinah smiled back, and then grabbed a blank parchment, sitting across from him and beginning work on a lesson plan of her own.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Lucy sat at breakfast in the Great Hall Tuesday morning, trying to figure out how she was going to explain herself to her younger years. Her schedule today contained only classes from Year Three and down, but they'd likely heard stories from the Fourth Years.

She felt as if everyone was staring at her. Now she had an idea of what Dinah and Severus had felt like during their youthening. Luckily, Sirius sat on the outer end so she was partially hidden from view.

From the other end of the table Lucy noticed Dinah and Severus entering. Severus who had pretty much yelled at her yesterday. He'd been right, she thought, but it had still been upsetting. Instead of stopping at their seats to sit down and eat like she expected, the other couple passed them by and made their way over to where Lucy and Sirius were sitting… next to Eugene. Perhaps that was why Dinah appeared to be dragging Severus behind her.

"Good morning!" Dinah said cheerfully, stopping in front of them and then nudging her husband with her elbow.

"I can do it on my own, woman!" he snapped at her, and then turned to stare pointedly at Lucy, "Lucy."

"Severus," she nodded, trying to hide her smile at their antics.

"Morning, Dinah," Sirius said, not bothering to hide his grin.

The former Potions master opened his mouth but then seemed to balk for a moment before he finally sighed and said sincerely, "I am sorry."

"Oh," Lucy said, somewhat shocked by this. "It's all right. You _did_ have a point, but if you knew what had gone on…"

"Dinah informed me of Septimus's behavior later last night," he admitted. "Points cannot be removed after the fact but rest assured as soon as I find him guilty of some misdemeanor, which should not take long," he threw in with a smirk, "I will see that he receives a punishment fitting his conduct with you yesterday."

"Good," Sirius said, turning to his new co-conspirator, "Since Lucy won't let me inflict any permanent damage to the sniveling idiot, punishment by you will have to do."

Lucy didn't miss a guarded expression float across Dinah's expression when Sirius said 'sniveling', only relaxing when he had concluded his sentence. Severus simply gave Sirius a frown and the briefest nod before looking back at Lucy, "I may have had a point yesterday, but I did not need to make it at the time or in the manner in which I did. I apologize for speaking harshly and for what it's worth I do not believe your reaction was anywhere near enough to make Minerva consider eliminating your position. Still, I'm sure you realize future discretion would be advisable."

"Okay," she nodded, "Thanks. Minerva's said before she had no plans to sack me and I _had_ been keeping it together until he said those things…"

Severus gave another brief nod, and then Dinah hesitated, "Did you... open the gift?" she asked.

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "It was a pair of earrings. I'm not sure why they'd send _me_ a pair of earrings though."

"I told you," Sirius teased, "it's a betrothal gift."

"Probably a family heirloom, marking you as a pureblood and... legitimate," Severus said bitterly, as though the words left a bad taste in his mouth. "However, if the mother likes you then perhaps eventually Peaks will back off somewhat."

"Maybe," Lucy said, doubting that would ever happen, "I don't _need_ to be 'legitimate'. I don't."

"Who ever said you needed to be?" he demanded, "I was simply stating a fact."

"I know you were Severus," Lucy snapped. Well, maybe snippy would be better than weepy as far as Severus was concerned.

He pulled his head back an inch, as though surprised, and then he glared down his nose at her with a smirk, "Well, then there is nothing more to say. Is there?" he turned and marched back to his seat.

Dinah watched him go and then turned a questioning raised eyebrow to Lucy, "What was that about?"

"Um," Lucy blushed, "slight mood swing I think. I'll apologize later. I still have to figure out how I'm going to explain myself to the students. Look," she said, discreetly pointing to where the students were sitting, "they're all staring at me."

Dinah bit her lip and frowned as she looked in the direction Lucy pointed, apparently unable to deny the fact that Lucy's statement was true and unsure what to say instead.

"You'd probably best be honest with them," Sirius said, turning a bit so she was less visible to the students than she had been, "Or mostly honest anyway."

"Well, I'd better head back to my seat, I suppose," Dinah said. "If you need anything, or to talk or something, just let us know. We'll be around," she smiled.

"Okay. Thanks. I'll…try to come over at lunch and tell Severus I'm sorry about snapping at him," Lucy grinned, feeling sheepish.

Dinah shrugged, "Well, I guess you got your revenge for yesterday. Still, an apology would be nice since he apologized to you. All right, hang in there. I'm going to go eat - I'm starving!" she waved and hurried off.

* * *

><p>That evening after dinner, Lucy and Sirius were relaxing on the couch. She had just picked up a book and he was sitting at the other end giving her a heavenly foot rub when a visitor knocked on their door.<p>

"I'll get it," Sirius said, abandoning her aching feet, but stopping to kiss her on his way to the door. "Hi, Minerva," he said, opening the door wide so that the Headmistress could enter. "How nice of you to stop by for a chat."

"Good evening, Sirius," Minerva said as she stepped past him and into the living room. "I have indeed stopped by for…a chat." Sirius closed the door and sat back down on the couch, indicating Minerva should have a seat as well before she continued. "I thought we should talk about what happened yesterday. I heard about it from a student, many of whom have probably already written their parents about it."

Lucy sighed and swung around so that her feet landed on the floor. "I have spent all day explaining myself to the students and I'll be doing it again tomorrow. Do I need to explain it to you too?" She heard how defeated her own voice sounded but she just couldn't seem to muster up any fight this evening.

Minerva smiled at her, a rather motherly smile Lucy thought. "I do understand about these things you know. I may not have any children of my own but that doesn't mean I don't have some idea about what you are having to deal with. What I would like to know is what triggered you to have such a reaction."

"It was nothing," she rolled her eyes when Sirius gave her a significant look, "It should have been nothing. Septimus Peaks just told me how much he hates coming to my class. It's nothing I didn't already know. I shouldn't have reacted like I did, I know."

"Lucy," Minerva said, "I have had to deal with Peaks and his parents in the past. You can not…"

"I am so tired of people telling me what I can and can't do. I _can't_ have emotional outbursts in class. I can stand up for myself. I don't deserve this. I do deserve that. I can't overdo it. I can't worry. If all of you think I'm a capable, responsible person then would it be so hard to let me work some of these things out for myself? I _know_ I shouldn't have reacted like I did, but I _tried_ not to and it didn't work. I don't know what else to do. I can't… No," she shook her head, "this is all too much and I…excuse me, please." Lucy shoved herself up off the couch and went into the dark bedroom. She closed the door behind her before dropping onto the bed and clutching Sirius's pillow to her chest.

* * *

><p>Sirius walked up to the door, listening to make sure Lucy was okay, before turning back to Minerva.<p>

"I did not mean to upset her," Minerva said, shaking her head, "I merely wanted to know so I could help deal with the situation. She has to know that this isn't going to help her case should…when the Board of Governors decides to further its investigation."

"I know. I think…" he sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He was pretty sure his wife was trying to do exactly what they'd all been encouraging her to do and be the strong, confident person they all knew she was. The one who didn't need everyone to help her deal with problems big and small. The person she'd been before he'd died… "She knows all that, Minerva. Ever since this whole thing started though, she'd gotten the idea that everyone thinks she's weak and incompetent, that you're going to sack her sooner or later. It doesn't matter how much we all tell her that's not going to happen. She still believes it."

Minerva stood, not looking terribly happy, "I know that. Indeed the main reason for my visit was to council her in regards to the Board of Governors. However, as Headmistress I find it beneficial to know about the situation that caused a majority of the students to run around telling tales about how one of my professors was 'having a fit and screaming' at them. It allows me to deal with the parents and the students, as well as anyone else involved. Though I trust that Lucy has already dealt with Peaks?"

"She plans to deal with him tomorrow," he said, having no idea if that was true or not, "and Severus already knows since he's Peaks's head of house."

"Very well," she nodded, "If you wouldn't mind giving Lucy my goodbyes and assuring her I did not mean to upset her, I think I'll be heading back to my rooms now."

"Of course. I'm sure once she settles down she'll see you weren't trying to get her upset. It's just usually how she reacts to things nowadays." Sirius silently walked Minerva to the door before bidding her goodnight and heading back to check again on Lucy. The room was mostly silent now and he pushed the door open, "Lucy?"

"I'm fine," came the assurance from the large dark lump in the bed.

"Minerva just left," he said, coming farther into the room, "she wanted me to tell you goodnight and that she didn't mean to upset you."

"I know."

"You know she wanted me to tell you goodnight?" he joked, sitting on the bed.

That got at least a half-smile out of her, "No. I know she didn't mean to upset me. I did try not to get like that, but it's just so frustrating at times, people telling me what I can and can't do. I love this baby," she said, running her hand over her stomach, "but I don't think I ever realized how much it would take from me. I don't get to be me anymore. My body is a slave to this child. My mind tells me that this is all worth it and I'm overreacting but I can't seem to make my body stop."

"I'm sorry," Sirius said, not knowing what else he could say really, "I don't know how to make it better. I would if I could."

"I don't think there is any 'making it better.' I just have to deal with it the best I can I suppose."

"Well," he said, brushing her hair back behind her, "would you like to come watch me set up some things in the nursery?"

Lucy shoved herself up onto an elbow, grinning, "There's no place for me to sit in there."

"Are you sure about that?" he grinned, pulling her up into a sitting position.

"No…" Lucy hesitated, but was starting to look curious.

"Well, you'll just have to come and see then won't you? Plus you might be interested to know that the Snape's gift is here and waiting in the nursery."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she exclaimed, trying to jump out of bed, her sullen mood thankfully gone.

He shrugged and led his pregnant wife into their nursery.

* * *

><p>Inside the new nursery room, which was mostly full of things still in boxes or clothes, nappies, and blankets draped over other things. There, over by the bay window, was a very comfortable looking chair and ottoman. It was mostly cream but with plaid patterned green stripes. Lucy thought it was wonderful.<p>

She and Sirius had decided to try not to favor one house color over another, though it'd garish if they put too much of all the colors in the nursery. Mainly they weren't purposefully excluding a house.

"You like it?" Sirius asked from over her left shoulder.

"It's perfect," she said, patting his cheek. On her way over to the chair she stroked her hand along what had turned into a three part present for Baby Snape. Well, four if she counted the necklace she'd given Dinah at the baby shower. Lucy was sure they'd love it and knew they hadn't acquired these for the nursery yet. "These are just gorgeous too," she said, settling into the chair, "We should give them to the Snapes soon."

"We'll have them over for dinner soon," Sirius said, "I'm not sure you and Severus are ready for a get together just yet."

"We're fine," she waved him off as she watched Sirius start to assemble the cot. "Actually, what do you think about having them over this weekend? Maybe Saturday? It _is _the day we were supposed to get married after all."

"Saturday's fine as long as you promise to get fancy for it."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Sorry, you're out of luck. I've got nothing fancy to put on. None of my old dresses fit. Nerissa's working on a one for the Yule Ball but I don't think mine or Dinah's would be ready yet." She didn't mention that she could easily transfigure one of her dresses to fit her and neither did Sirius. Lucy truly doubted he wanted her to get all dressed up anyway. All four of them would probably be pretty uncomfortable if they did that.

"Okay," Sirius said, waving his wand at the cot railings. "We'll be casual. Should we have cake? If we have cake we have to host, but I think they'll be okay with that."

She sighed. _Now_ she was pretty sure she knew what he was doing. "You don't have to keep me distracted so I don't think about facing Septimus tomorrow," she murmured, "I faced him after he beat me with a rock to the head… I can do it now."

Sirius nodded, "I know. Snuffles is still coming with you tomorrow though."

Lucy kept her mouth shut. He knew she worried about him going around as Snuffles too much now. After their fight about registering though, he was seriously considering going through with it. She knew that he was taking her concerns to heart. Just as she also knew that he was aware of her understanding him not wanting to lose something that had helped him so much in the past.

"I'm still thinking about it," he said, indicating he'd read her thoughts. "Remus does the registering you said…"

"He does," Lucy agreed, "It's getting closer to decision time. I don't want to force this on you."

"I know," Sirius said, coming over to kiss her forehead, "I'll do it. I promise."


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Lucy took a deep breath to try and calm herself as the fourth years nervously entered her class. Snuffles stood next to her, watching every student enter and make their way to their seats. When Septimus entered, the dog growled low in his throat and took a threatening step forward.

She did get a small sense of satisfaction when the boy looked terrified and took a few steps back, but common sense overrode her desire to scare the wits out of Mr. Peaks. With her fingers she tapped Snuffles on the nose. He jumped before stepping back and looking up at her. "No," she said, firmly.

He whined before laying down and giving her a rather unhappy look.

"So," Lucy started when everyone had taken their seats. "I know we left off last class on a sour note, but I'd like the chance to explain myself to you all."

"It's okay," Jania said from her seat next to Tad, "Mum wrote back to me really quick yesterday and explained that's kind of normal for a pregnant woman. Like you get all emotional and have mood swings and stuff."

"Well, yes," Lucy said, glad they at least had an idea of what she was going to tell them, "but that doesn't make my behavior okay. Every pregnancy is different and I've apparently been blessed with rather intense mood swings. When I'm happy I cry, when I'm sad I cry, when I'm angry I cry. It seems like most anything makes me cry anymore. I don't want any of you to feel like you can't talk to me and tell me things though. I promise you that I'm doing my best to get them under control."

"Then why'd you bring the dog?" Septimus asked, not raising his hand as usual. "I keep telling Mum it attacked me last year but she doesn't believe me. _I_ know it's true."

"Mr. Peaks," Lucy said, giving him a level look, one she hoped was up to Severus's standards, "Nothing I can say or do will convince you that Snuffles is harmless. He did growl at you, yes, but you might be interested to note that even though he isn't leashed he backed down and hasn't moved since I scolded him. Now, if no one else has any questions I'd like to start class."

* * *

><p>"My nose is still sore you know," Sirius pouted Saturday, the day they were supposed to get married.<p>

"Oh, stop being such a baby. I'm not going to kiss it and make it better. Besides I didn't hit you that hard," Lucy said, leaning against the wall. The Snapes were set to arrive any minute and it was easier if she was already standing when they got there.

There was a short, assertive knock at the door. Clearly Severus was the one announcing their arrival today. Lucy opened the door, grinning, "Hi! I hope you're hungry. We ordered up some fancy cake and extra special dinners."

"Extra special?" Dinah shrieked, clapping her hands together. Apparently it was Lucy's lucky day and her friend was indeed hungry. Though who knew how long that would last.

"Yes," Sirius said, coming behind Lucy and wrapping his arms around her, hands resting on One. "It _is_ the day we were supposed to get married."

"Oh my, I nearly forgot about that," Dinah smiled and winked at them as the Snapes stepped inside, "I suppose congratulations is in order?"

"Thanks," Lucy giggled, following Sirius as he led them to the table. "You'll be happy to know I've been making progress in controlling myself in front of the students, Severus."

"Yes, at the expense of injuring your poor guard dog," Sirius teased.

"You are just fine," she said, rolling her eyes.

Severus sighed as they all settled down around the table, "Excellent." He looked like he still felt a bit guilty, though, about what had happened.

"Severus," she said gently, "I reacted poorly to the things you said and yes, you probably could have worded them better, but you were trying to help. I know. You like me," she grinned.

"Did I ever say that?" Severus demanded, clearing his throat and looking away, "I thought you said there was food here. Summon it, will you?"

Lucy sent a smirk Dinah's way while Sirius summoned up a dinner of all their favorites. Each person had their own unique meal. Dinah's, everyone noted, was especially eclectic. Lucy picked up her own fork and dug into the delicious stir-fry in front of her.

After eating about half of her shepherd's pie, Dinah switched over to her peach cobbler. And after about two bites of that she moved to her creamed spinach. She spent about a minute on that meal before eating a scoop of ice cream and then going back to the shepherd's pie. Her peas, sausages, and awful-smelling kippers were untouched yet, but Lucy had a feeling they wouldn't be abandoned for long.

"You okay?" Sirius asked, rubbing his hand across her back. "You look like you're about ready to be sick."

"It's the kippers but I'm fine," Lucy said, not wanting to make Dinah feel like she had to scarf her kippers down.

"Sorry," Dinah muttered around the mouthful of peas that she'd turned her attention to, "Sv, csta snot cnclment chrem."

"_Please_ say you are not speaking to me," Severus said with somewhat disgusted smirk.

Dinah blushed and swallowed, "Sorry... um... cast a scent concealment charm on the kippers, okay?" she said, staring red-faced at the table.

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief as the smells of the offensive kippers disappeared. "Thanks. I haven't had that problem in awhile but…"

"That's fine," Dinah said, digging into her scentless kippers, "Oh, good, the scent comes back when you eat them. Did you know that a large component of taste is scent? Oh, I bet you did since you're good at potions," she said, moving to her sausages, "I seem to be having a hungry day."

Lucy grinned at her friend, "I did and you don't say? And here I thought this was a normal day for you. If you keep going like this we might have to wait to have the cake."

Dinah surprised Lucy by pouting a little and Severus just shook his head and said in explanation, "Please bear with her. She recently informed me that acting _childish_ was going to be her third-trimester affliction."

"Ah, yes," Lucy nodded, "You've reached that point now, haven't you? I guess that means my mood swings are just going to get worse…"

Severus looked at Sirius, "I believe we mentioned some sort or support group over the summer for men with mad pregnant wives?"

"Yes," Sirius nodded, "and I think we should have the first meeting tomorrow…or maybe later tonight. Especially if we exchange gifts and this one," he pointed at Lucy, "starts sobbing uncontrollably again."

"Nn," Severus made a groan of disgruntlement, pinching the bridge of his nose, and then apologized, "It is nothing personal. I am simply not... equipped for this sort of thing."

"That's okay," Lucy assured him, "Really Sirius isn't _thrilled_ about my mood swings either." She looked down at her plate when her fork hit the solid surface. "Oh, I guess I ate it all…"

"Sorry, I'd share with you, but I can't," Dinah grinned, finishing off her shepherd's pie before dumping the remainder of her ice cream on top of her cobbler.

"That's okay," Lucy assured her, "I'm ready for Sirius to give you your present anyway. He thought of, and picked out, most of it himself and I think he did a good job. When you're finished of course. Don't rush."

"Oh!" Dinah smiled and turned a surprised expression to Sirius, probably thinking that he didn't look the type to be picking out baby gifts, "Well, thank you. That was nice, taking some of the work load off of Lucy."

"Is that an accusation?" Severus demanded.

"No, not at all," she flushed, poking at her last bit of peas, "Just a statement, really."

"Oh, it was an entirely selfish gesture, I think," Lucy said, "There's a big long note attached to the gifts that I haven't been allowed to read which probably explains everything."

Sirius, Lucy noted, was keeping his mouth shut and not looking at anyone directly.

"Um... okay," Dinah looked surprised in a different way now and exchanged a glance with Severus before pushing her empty plate away and wiping her face with a napkin, "Well, I'm done. How would you like to do this? We have a number of gifts for you, too."

"Why don't we go into the living room and you two can start us off? Lucy's libel to cry either way," Sirius said.

They all shuffled into the living room and Dinah handed a pile of four wrapped gifts of increasing size to Lucy. The gift on top was in a cylindrical wrap.

Lucy carefully peeled the wrapping off the gift inside. A long, sturdy chart was inside, with measurements counting down from the top. Right off she saw "One" written on the top with a blank space beneath it. "Oh," Lucy said, pulling out a handkerchief, "I'm sorry Severus, but I'm not in front of the students right now. Thank you," she said to both of them and turned to her husband, "See we can put the baby's name here."

"And track how tall One is," Sirius nodded.

Dinah smiled, "And I didn't know what color you would want so you can bewitch it in any way you like. If you have Two, Three, or more they'll get ones of their own too."

"That's so nice," Lucy sniffled, handing the scroll to Sirius and starting to unwrapping the next present. The same set of bug books that Dinah had gotten from Rosa soon sat in her lap. Lucy managed to hold herself together fairly well as she read the note from "Aunt Dinah and Uncle Severus" written inside the book. She tried to exert _some_ control over her emotions so she didn't make Severus too uncomfortable.

She mumbled something incoherent to Dinah and Severus while Sirius leaned over and wiped her eyes with his own hanky. "I think that was 'thank you'," he told them.

"You're welcome," Dinah said softly while Severus grunted acknowledgement, looking embarrassed. "I'm sure you'll like them. They're some of my favorites, like I said. Mum thinks the caterpillar one appeals to my appetite, remember?" she laughed.

Lucy laughed through her happy tears, "I remember." The books were removed from her lap and placed next to the growth chart, while she began unwrapping the next present. A colorful box full of bath toys greeted her. The pictures showed a seal, two fish, a frog, duck, starfish, fox, dog, cat, and a snake came in the set. Most of the animals would squirt water when squeezed. "Oh, these are adorable," Lucy said, gathering more of her control, "And there's a fox and a dog for us," she said, smiling.

"The store in London had about a thousand different animals to choose from to customize your own set of ten," Dinah explained with a smile. "So after I picked our most relevant animals - the cat's for Dora and I knew you had a thing with rubber ducks - I filled out the rest with aquatic animals."

"That's so fun," Lucy grinned, "Now I wish I'd thought of something like that! Maybe we can play with them later," she said, winking at Sirius. When she caught Severus's scowl she laughed, "Oh, please! We can't do anything and I wouldn't use them for that anyway."

"I see," Severus smirked, but then smiled when Dinah reached for his hand as Lucy began unwrapping the last gift.

It was a small, two-drawer, nightstand. The four house colors flickered over the surface, changing at a slow place. On each drawer there were two of the house symbols craved on each side of the handle. It was adorable and didn't show any house preference whatsoever. "Oh, this can go right next to the big comfy chair you got me, Sirius!"

"Yes," he agreed, "It'll look good there. Thank you both."

"You're very welcome," Dinah smiled, "I'm glad you liked everything."

"You're welcome," Severus gave a sincere nod, though he still held himself a little more distant than Dinah.

"Now, _I'll_ be right back," Sirius said, disappearing into the nursery.

"Send the part I picked out first!" Lucy ordered. A large wrapped bundle came floating toward them while Sirius stood in the doorway so that he could watch Dinah open her gift. He caught Lucy's gaze for a moment and gave her the smile that had gotten her to agree to 'have spaghetti' a few months ago in Hogsmeade House. The smile that had landed her in her current state. She blushed and fingered her version of the heart necklace she'd given Dinah at the baby shower. "This is the only part I helped with," Lucy told Dinah.

"Thank you," Dinah said, unwrapping her gift to reveal the deep brown and pale green diaper bag Lucy had picked out. The side was decorated with pale green and white designs that looked like leafy plants or trees. "It's so cute!" Dinah gushed, slinging the handle over her shoulder to try it on for size, "And I can use it in both worlds. Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Lucy grinned. "Now you both need to close your eyes because the other part isn't wrapped."

Dinah grinned but Severus put on a grouchy expression and said, "I will not partake in such a childish - Dinah!" he cut himself off with a growl of protest when Dinah covered his eyes with her hands.

"Shh, just close your eyes and cooperate," she laughed, closing her own eyes while Severus grumbled incoherently.

Once Lucy determined that their eyes were closed, she signaled to Sirius to bring out the next gift. With the help of a featherweight charm Sirius brought in the large changing table he'd ordered for the baby. It was a gorgeous piece of furniture, Lucy thought. The light wood finish had pale green cushion on top for changing the baby and each house was represented by their animals that chased each other around the piece. It had drawers for storage and places to hold diapers and wipes and other such things that would be needed to have close by.

"You can open your eyes now," Sirius said, when he'd placed the changing table in front of the other couple, clutching the letter she knew he'd written in his hands.

"Oh!" Dinah exclaimed when she opened her eyes and removed her hand from her husband's. She stood up from the couch and reached out to finger the wooden frame, "Oh my, it's... lovely, Lucy! I mean Sirius! It ... but this, and the necklace, and the bag... it's so much..." she murmured as she stroked the cushions, Severus just sort of staring at the whole ensemble.

"Not nearly enough," Sirius murmured, holding out the parchment to Dinah, "There's a letter in there explaining more but really there is no way I can repay you for everything you've done to keep Lucy safe for me. Both of you," he said, moving his gaze to include Severus too, "Seeing her that way… last year… when I'd gone to the LeStrange mansion… and when Henley showed up in Hogsmeade this year… I'm very grateful that you were there. There's also a document in there for a trust fund I set up for the baby. I plan to do the same thing if you decide to have more kids too."

Dinah's fingers closed slowly around the envelope that was handed to her but she did not put it into her robes or do anything with it right away, just stood there staring at Sirius with her mouth hanging open just a tiny bit, eyes wide. Both Snapes, in fact, looked like gaping statues.

"_Trust_ fund...? I... but..." Dinah stammered, her voice shaking slightly as her gaze shifted down to the envelope and her eyes started to tear up a little, "Sirius, this is... too much! So much!" she shook her head and looked up at him, whispering, "Thank you. I don't even... there aren't really words... don't think I did enough to repay you for..." she muttered with a vague gesture to the gifts Lucy had just opened.

Sirius shook his head, "You've done _everything_. If Lucy wasn't here I wouldn't be either. I…she makes me a far better person then I ever was before her."

Lucy thought he was struggling to explain himself. Talking about their innermost feelings just wasn't something men did much but he seemed to think it necessary right now.

"There is…so much in my life now that there never would have been…even if everything had worked out and it had been me and Harry. Eventually Harry would have gone on with his life and it would have been just me. When I look at Lucy there is a joy and a love in her eyes that is beyond anything I ever thought I'd have, that I don't want to lose… believe me. You've done enough."

Lucy pulled out another handkerchief to blow her nose. She hadn't known all this about the trust fund, the letter, the way he felt…

Dinah had also removed a hanky and was wiping her eyes, finally tucking the letter away into her robe pocket and offering Sirius an awestruck, watery smile, "Thank you. I still think it's too much, but..." she reached out and then hesitated, "Can I hug you? You're not going to be afraid of me this time? Like over the summer?" she managed some light teasing through her emotion.

"Well, I suppose if you're not afraid of Lucy's attack dog, I shouldn't be afraid of you," he teased back.

"Snuffles is cute, not scary," she smiled, giving him a warm hug, "Thank you," she whispered.

"Tell that to Septimus," Lucy muttered.

"As far as Septimus needs to be concerned, Snuffles is the scariest thing on this planet," Sirius frowned and turned to Dinah, "You don't have to keep thanking me. You help keep my heart safe. The best I can do is help your child's future."

"Oh," Dinah murmured, clutching her hand to her heart, "Stop saying things like that. You know my emotions may be more stable than Lucy's but I'm still a pregnant woman," she said, pulling her handkerchief back out again.

Meanwhile, Severus had stood and put a gentle hand on his weeping wife's shoulder before moving to stand in front of Sirius, "You've changed," he declared, thoughtful, as though noticing it for the first time.

"So have you," Sirius said, "I told you she makes me better."

"Mm," Severus said, glancing at Dinah, "I know the feeling." He turned back to Sirius and, very slowly, extended his hand, "Thank you." As far as Lucy knew this was only the second time he had extended a hand to shake Sirius's. He had during the summer visit, but that had been more... grudging, somehow. This was highly thought out and sincere.

A smile spread across Lucy's face as Sirius also reached out his hand, grasping the other man's and giving it a firm shake. "You're welcome…and thank you," he said, nodding towards Lucy though his eyes were locked with Severus's.

Severus gave a brief nod as the men lowered their hands and Dinah came up to wrap her arms around her husband, looking so happy at both the gift and the turn of events it had brought about.

The Snapes shared a very personal moment in the way they looked into each other's eyes, and then Dinah turned back to Sirius, still clutching Severus's hands, "It was nothing, you know? I'll do anything to help Lucy, and everyone that I care about. And I know he won't say it but I'm sure Severus feels the same way," she said as her husband's eyes wandered around the room in embarrassed distraction, but there was no denial in his expression.

Lucy grinned, "I told you Severus likes me." She thought a bit of levity was called for after all the emotional speeches.

Severus made an agitated growling noise, "I never said that I hated you."

Dinah laughed, "Well... I think I'm a little overwhelmed still, by all of this, and Severus probably can't take any more of this bonding stuff for one night, so it might be good to go ahead and turn in."

"All right," Lucy nodded, trying to lever herself up off the couch while Sirius went to the window to answer the owl that had started tapping on the glass.

The Snapes were still in the room as Sirius came over to help Lucy off the couch and hand her the letter. She was halfway to her friends when she noticed the handwriting on the parchment and stopped.

"Lucy?" Sirius asked.

Instead of answering him she opened the letter and began to read it out loud, knowing whatever was inside couldn't be good. "Does he know? Do your friends know? Does your boss know? Your students? Do their _parents_? It will all come out soon enough."

"Well, who does he think he is?" Dinah huffed, hands on her hips while Sirius and Severus simply looked angry. "If he knew anything about friends he'd know none of that matters to any of us."

"Henley's just trying to scare me," Lucy said, making sure the sender's identity was clear. "But I'm not going to let him," she crumpled up the letter and tossed it towards the fireplace and the fire that was keeping the room nice and cozy.

It didn't reach the fire but Sirius stopped her from pulling out her wand to flick it the rest of the way. "We might want to keep that," he said, "In case we need to show it to Minerva or someone later."

"Wise, I suppose," Severus smirked. "Do you still need us?" he asked, a little impatiently. Perhaps Lucy's willingness to toss it into the flame had convinced him she was handling this better on her own.

"No," she shook her head, "No, we're fine." She started chewing on her lip, watching Sirius pick up the letter from her father. She was handling it better, but she wasn't sure that she was handling it _well_.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Monday morning Lucy got to sleep in. Classes were done for the holidays and she got to snuggle in her warm bed as long as she wanted. It'd be a lot easier to sleep if that squeaking would stop though. Lucy whined a little and rolled over onto her other side, pulling the blankets up to cover her ear. The other side of the bed was empty and a little cold, Sirius having gotten up an hour ago.

Even with her head covered the noises wouldn't stop. "Sirius?" she called.

"Hmm?" he asked, coming into the room.

"Something is squeaking in here and it's keeping me up."

"Well, it _is_ ten, but let me see what I can do."

After searching all around the room, Sirius squatted down and looked under the bed. "Well," he said, from his position on the floor, "I found the squeakers."

"Good," Lucy said, shifting around, "Now make it stop."

"I can't," he said, getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed, "and you're going to want to get up anyway."

"Why?"

"Because we have kittens."

"What? Under the bed? I can't _see_ down there! Oh, wait! Never mind me, you have to go get Dinah and Severus! Severus probably won't care and be grumpy but drag him along anyway."

Sirius chuckled but leaned over to kiss her before standing, "I think Dinah will do all the dragging but I'll go get them."

* * *

><p>Sirius knocked on Severus's office door, wincing in anticipation of the squealing he knew was about to occur.<p>

The door opened no more than a crack and he could see a dark eye peeking out, "What do you want?" Severus demanded. "It is far too early to be making house calls."

"Ten is too early?" Sirius questioned, "And I actually came by to see your wife. If she's willing."

"My wife is pregnant and likes her sleep and ten is too early any time myself and Dinah are still in our nighttime robes. Now if this is not an emergency I demand that you leave and come back at a more suitable-"

"Oh, Sev, just find out what he wants first!" Sirius heard Dinah call from somewhere further away, "What is it, Sirius? Is it important?"

"It's not an emergency or anything, but Lucy and I thought you'd like to know we have squeakers."

Severus growled, "You are invading at this hour to use made-up words such as-"

"What's a squeaker?" Dinah demanded, her tone indicating that her interest was peaked.

"Kittens," he explained, "Three of them when I left."

Everything was sort of a blur after that. Sirius heard the expected squeal, but then the next thing he knew the door was being flung open and Dinah was rushing past him in her nighttime robes while Severus's gaze followed his wife with an expression that was half-surprised and half affronted. The other man seemed as taken aback as Sirius. Sirius thought he had heard Dinah shouting something along the lines of "I have to see them right now!" but now his gaze was back on Severus as his old rival seemed to recover his senses and was holding his arms in front of his own nighttime robes like a scandalized young woman, glaring daggers at Sirius and saying:

"She is pregnant and should not be running like that. Go catch her before she tries to use the stairs. I am going to get dressed," he snarled and slammed the door in Sirius's face.

Sirius just stared at the door for a minute before taking off after Dinah. He wasn't so worried about her using the stairs, even though she was running, but he wanted to get to her before she reached their room. "Dinah, wait!" he said, catching the woman just as she reached the stairs, "You're not going to be able to see the kittens yet."

"What?" she demanded, whirling on him, "What do you mean? You can't hide them from me!"

He chuckled, "I'm not hiding them, I promise. They're just under the bed. Don't take this the wrong way but if you get down on the floor to see them I don't think you're going to be able to get back up."

Dinah pouted. Severus had not been kidding when he'd said her third trimester affliction was childishness, "Well can we pull them out or something?" she asked, as she began to navigate the stairs.

Sirius grinned, "I'm not sure. You're the animal expert, not me. I just turn into one."

"Well, we'll just have to find out. Oh!" she smacked herself on the head, "I would have expected this of _me_ but not of _you_, Sirius! Really!" she almost scolded.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You don't have to manually pull them out, you can use magic, silly! Honestly, do I have to do all the thinking around here?" she made it to the top of the stairs and bolted for their rooms.

Sirius huffed and rushed off after her. They entered the rooms and went into the bedroom where they found Lucy sitting up in bed with Dora and three little, squeaking kittens piled in front of her.

"I couldn't sleep," she said, sheepishly, "so I grabbed my wand and…" she made a gesture indicating she'd done as Dinah had suggested and used magic to bring the cats up onto the bed.

"Ahh, I'm so glad _somebody_ is smart today!" Dinah said, pressing her palms to her cheeks and gushing over both the kittens and Lucy's apparent intelligence. She plopped down onto the bed and reached out to stroke the pink nose of one of the tiny kittens with a small squeak of joy, "Oh my, just look at them..."

Lucy had picked up a tiny kitten, the same shade of grey as Dora, only with Godric's tabby cat stripes, and one white paw. His wife was fingering that right, front paw, making sure she held the kitten low enough for Dora to get to it if she wanted.

Dinah was running her finger along a white and brown spotted tabby. The other kitten looked to be a solid brown without any stripes except that both of its rear feet were white.

"Where's Severus?" Lucy asked as she set her kitten down next to its mother where it went on a hunt for what was probably its first meal.

Dinah blinked at Lucy, "I don't know. Did he follow me?" she asked Sirius, utterly clueless.

Sirius chuckled, remembering the way Severus had reacted to the thought of coming up here in his nighttime robes. "Oh no, he had to dress. Was utterly scandalized at the thought of coming up here without being properly attired."

Dinah put her free hand over her mouth and dissolved into giggles, "That's Sev for you. He'll be up soon enough. So I guess you've now joined the elite group of people who have seen him in his sleeping attire?" she asked, gesturing to herself and Lucy.

"Oh, but I was a fox then," Lucy said, looking a little sad at the memory, "I played with his hair and ate your bacon."

Sirius smiled and rolled his eyes, "I suppose I am a part of that group, yes."

"Those were the days," Dinah smiled reminiscently, picking up the brown kitten with the white back paws and cradling it in the palm of her hand where it just fit, "Oh, look at you..." she cooed at it.

Lucy giggled, "Well, I actually kind of prefer these days, but I'm sure you understand. Dinah, you know you can't keep all three kittens. Severus won't allow it."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Dinah grinned, gently placing the kitten down where it joined its siblings at mealtime and moving to stroke the back of the one Lucy had just replaced.

"We will, will we?" a much deeper voice said from the doorway, and they all turned to see Severus standing there with his arms folded across his chest, glaring at the room.

Dinah grinned, beckoning him with her hand, "Come over here."

"Oh no, I don't think so," he smirked through his glare, "You run off like a madwoman and force me to expose myself to _him_," he pointed angrily at Sirius and then looked back at Dinah, "No, I'm not coming over by you, not now."

Sirius laughed, deciding it would be better _not_ to ask Severus if he'd like Sirius to expose himself in return. Instead he said, "Well, you're standing there looking at my wife. Who, as I'm sure you now know, prefers to wear little to bed and pile on the blankets." He gestured to Lucy who was wearing a loose fitting maternity camisole and rather short shorts, thought only her top half was exposed.

Severus flushed and looked away, bringing a fist to his mouth and clearing his throat which only made Dinah giggle some more, "I apologize."

Lucy shrugged, "It's fine. I'm sure you could see more in my swimsuit over the summer. Well, there's probably _more of me_ to see now," she gestured to her chest and stomach, "but I'm sure you get the idea."

"Isn't it funny how seeing anybody in a swimsuit is fine but if they're in any other type of clothing that reveals just as much or sometimes even less it's not?" Dinah mused, "Now, come here, Severus, please. I'm sorry I ran off and exposed you but you _have _to come look at these babies."

"Dinah wants them all," Lucy said, making sure not to lean over too far and scandalize Severus beyond redemption.

"Is that so?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow, relenting and walking over to sit on the bed next to his wife.

"Mm," she murmured, picking up the brown and white tabby who had just finished eating and pressing him to her cheek, "Look how soft and sweet and tiny they are, Sev. I just love them," she murmured, looking like she was in utter bliss.

Severus's smirk turned to a half-smile and he reached over and started moving Dinah's haphazard strands of hair into smoother locations, "You couldn't even wait long enough to comb your hair before rushing to see them."

Sirius chuckled, "Lucy couldn't even get out of bed."

"Hey!" she frowned, "I _was_ sleeping. They woke me up!"

"They do make the cutest noises, don't they?" Dinah murmured, closing her eyes and rubbing her cheek against the little kitten she still held, before smiling back at her husband, "You have to admit that they're wonderful."

He shook his head at her, but his gaze was soft as he finished smoothing her hair, "You are so beautiful..." he murmured, "Half-dressed with these ridiculous animals looking like a disheveled mess... yet I can't take my eyes off of you."

Dinah squeaked again and tried unsuccessfully to hide her flushed face in the kitten, "Severus..."

"Oh, don't start," Lucy said, "I don't have a…"

Sirius reached over and held out a handkerchief to his wife. "Don't worry, you're pretty too."

"Sorry," Dinah said sheepishly while Severus sighed. She scooted up next to her husband and took his hands, gently placing the kitten into them, "See?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder and making one of his hands stroke the kitten with her, "Now tell me you don't love this little individual."

"It's a little piece of Cat," Lucy encouraged, referring to Godric as Severus had used to, "and it doesn't have any of his learned behaviors yet."

Severus's smirk was _almost_ a smile, "Then I can train it not to run around me like a maniac?"

"Oh, you love Godric," Dinah teased.

But I don't need two of them," Severus said, surprisingly not denying his love for the larger beast, "Variety would be better if you insist upon adding more pets to our repertoire yet again," he shook his head, "You know, before I met you I would not have thought twice about kittens, but now I can see what you see... the cuteness... albeit just a bit."

"So we can have three?" Dinah asked, turning her eyes up to him and batting her lashes.

"One," he murmured into her hair, chuckling.

She sighed, "But how will I choose?"

Lucy shook her head, "I don't know. I was thinking, if everyone's okay with it that is, that we could see if Agrona would like to have one. I know there's Mae and Jania, or the boys, but I'd be surprised if Agrona and Derwent didn't get married anyway and it _is_ their seventh year. And we could potentially have more kittens. On purpose or accidentally."

"Oh yes, let's offer one to the students, they'll take good care of them," Dinah agreed, leaving the kitten with Severus, who didn't really look like he knew what he was supposed to do with it without Dinah's guidance, and grabbing instead the grey one Lucy had first picked up to cuddle, "We should ask Agrona first, since as you said she's about to graduate."

Sirius had to laugh at the expression on Severus's face just then, "It's a kitten Severus and one that's barely a couple hours old. It's not going to bite. In fact it'll probably just go to sleep."

"I am not afraid of it," Severus growled, moving his hands around as though he wasn't sure where he wanted to put the kitten.

"Here, silly," Dinah laughed, taking his hands and moving them so the kitten was placed back down next to Dora, where it curled up into a tiny little ball. "Aww, see, you're smiling. I told you it was cute."

"I am not smiling," Severus protested, straightening his face.

Lucy giggled, "It's hard to resist kittens. I'd like to think even Bellatrix would have smiled at them."

"The little Bella would have," Dinah said with a soft, reminiscent smile, cradling her most recent kitten in the crook of her arm where it promptly fell asleep, and then yawning herself, "You know, little kitten, your birth interrupted my breakfast."

"They interrupted my sleep," Lucy said, stroking Dora's head, "but I haven't eaten yet either, if you'd like to stay for breakfast. We can pick out names. After all we have to call them something besides kitten."

"Sure! I'm not about to leave these babies any time soon but I'm definitely hungry. Though maybe we should wait until they start showing personalities before we try to name them. Maybe we can give them code names for now. Like One, Two, and Three, or Brown, Grey, and Tabby."

Lucy smirked, "Severus already has issues with me calling this baby One. Do you really think he'd let me call one of the kittens that too?"

Sirius meanwhile quietly summoned a variety of breakfast items as well as conjuring up a couple chairs and a table for himself and Severus. The girls would be getting trays to eat on.

"Oh, you don't need to go to that trouble!" Dinah waved him off, "We can go to the dining table."

"Are you sure?" he asked, "That requires leaving the kittens and we probably shouldn't leave them in the middle of the bed…"

"No!" Dinah exclaimed, whining a little and startling the kitten awake as she pulled it away from Sirius, "You mean you won't let me bring the kittens to the table? You can't take them away!"

"Well," Lucy compromised, "we can take them into the living room with us but I'm sure it'd be better for them if we let them be with Dora. They've had an eventful day…"

Dinah sighed, "No, you're right. Sorry about that."

Severus shook his head, "Your childish affliction again. Are you sure you don't want to go home and change before we eat?"

She grinned and shook her head, "Oh no, maybe we should just have a pajama day. Besides, these are my favorite nighttime robes," she murmured, wrapping her arms around herself and the familiar set of silky dark purple robes she wore, "A very sweet, handsome young boy gave them to me for Valentine's Day. Along with about a hundred other gifts."

"Hmph," Severus snorted, flushing a little and looking away.

Dinah laughed and put a hand on Severus's shoulder, "It's okay. He just wanted to make me smile. And he got his wish. He made me so happy."

"Mm," Severus muttered, still not meeting anybody's gaze. Lucy had never seen his face so red.

"Aww," Lucy sniffed, "I did that."

"And we're all eternally grateful," Sirius teased, leaning down to kiss her, "I have no problem with a pajama day, but you might want to put another layer on."

"I was planning on it," she said, "find something to put the kittens in and I'll pull a bathrobe on."

"Do you have a basket?" Dinah suggested, cuddling up to Severus and scooping all three kittens onto their laps.

"Oh, Sirius! Out in the kitchen, there's a basket of apples. We can put the apples someplace else for now. Line it with some old blankets or towels or something!"

Severus stared down at the kittens squirming around between himself and his wife, and then turned to Dinah, "So how many hours of the day are you going to demand to spend here now that we have these animals?"

She laughed, "Oh, all hours, what did you think?"

"Lovely."

Sirius chuckled, leaving to do as he was instructed.


	54. Chapter 54

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far! I thought I'd mention that this chapter contains pieces from animalwriter's "The Serpents' Kiss", specifically the third epilogue "Yule". The scene at the end of this chapter goes along with the Yule epilogue in that it is mostly told from Lucy's perspective and showcases her dancing with Severus while animalwriter's scene follows Dinah and Sirius. If you're holding off on animalwriter's epilogues as you read this story "Yule" is as far as we should be at the moment. Thanks and enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 54<p>

"Mmm, apple crepes," Lucy grinned, sitting in the bed as the kittens slept in the apple basket nearby. "I hope this is okay? I'm afraid my apple cravings haven't subsided."

"Mmmm," Dinah shook her head, stuffing her face full of crepes, "These are _perfect_!"

"I'm glad you like them," Lucy giggled, "So, um, I've never had kittens before. I had Mum's cat and then Dora…how do we tell if we have boys or girls? I mean they're not all developed yet, right?"

"I think it's hard to tell at this point," Dinah admitted, reaching over and lifting the tail of one kitten with a frown of consideration, "But as I understand it if the two orifices are closer together then-"

"Is this important?" Severus demanded, looking highly displeased at Dinah's action.

"It is if we want to name them," Lucy insisted, while Sirius silently ate his breakfast, "How would you have liked it if your parents named you…Amanda before they found out you were a boy?"

"Amanda Jennifer…" Sirius murmured, looking like he was considering that name. "If the baby's a girl…"

"No," Lucy said, "I just pulled the name out randomly. It doesn't fit with the whole celestial theme your family started."

"Stop staring at the cat's genitals," Severus snarled, pulling Dinah's hand away and forcing her to drop the kitten tail.

"Whatever you say, Amanda," Dinah teased, getting a death glare in return. "No? Well, then how about Sarah? Miranda? Jacqueline?"

"No more making ridiculous jokes while my wife still has the mind of a four-year-old," Severus growled at Lucy.

"I wasn't joking!" Lucy protested, "If one of those kittens is a boy he's hardly going to enjoy being called Amanda anymore than you did."

Severus rolled his eyes, "Simply have Hagrid sex the cats when they are older. It is the most efficient way."

Lucy rolled her eyes back at him, "That doesn't help with what we call them _now_."

Sirius sighed, "You're probably just better off leaving them to it Severus. They both seem to be in one of those moods."

"Thanks," Dinah grinned at Sirius, "Now, as I was saying if they're closer together it's a female and if they're farther apart it's a male... I think. And for some reason male cat's don't really have visible tes-"

"You've made your point," Severus cut in, "All right. That one's female."

"_No_, Sev, you can't tell if it's closer together or farther apart until you compare it side-by-side with another," Dinah scolded.

Lucy sighed, "So we're kind of screwed if they're all the same, huh? Or would Dora and Godric be good examples? Probably not since they're adults…"

"I think there's another trait to look for but I can't remember what it was. I can run an internet search later if you like? Or do you have any books on animals in here? Well, let's compare the kittens first, maybe we won't need the other trait," she reached for another tail.

"I have this," Lucy said, waving her wand and calling an encyclopedia over, "I don't know if it'll help though."

"Never mind, I don't think we'll need it," Dinah said, holding all three tails together above the three kittens as they fed again, and twisting the basket so Lucy could see.

"Looks like one boy and two girls to me," Lucy said.

"That's what I see, too!" Dinah clapped her hands together, "So we've got two girls and one boy. But I still like the idea of naming them Grey, Brown, and Tabby."

"At least for now," Lucy agreed, "and I don't know if I like the idea of naming one then giving it away…"

Dinah nodded, "The name might get changed then and that would be sad. Plus we'd get too attached."

"I believe you already _are_ attached," Severus smirked.

Lucy smiled, "I think it's hard not to be attached to such cute little babies."

Sirius shook his head and held out a forkful of crepes out to her, "Eat."

Lucy carefully ate the offered food, "I'm not going to starve you know. Madam Pomfrey has advised me to start watching it now so I don't go overboard later."

"Funny, she didn't tell me anything like that," Dinah said.

Severus smirked, "I think she's _afraid_ to give you any food-related orders."

"Oh, stop!" Dinah playfully smacked him.

"I think she's just being extra cautious because of how sick I was in the beginning and then…you know…the complications," Lucy said, laughing at the other couple's antics.

"Mm," Dinah agreed, serving herself another crepe, "But you seem to be doing just great now! That's wonderful!"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded, "things have been a lot better lately. Well, except for that Septimus incident…and that letter from Henley…" She hadn't heard anything about the Board of Governors situation lately and was hoping it'd stay that way. Reaching out to stroke the kitten closest to her she sighed, "Do you think you should bring Godric over? You know meet his children and all that."

Dinah shrugged, "I don't know that he'll know or care. But it would be interesting to see how he reacts to kittens."

Lucy nodded, "You're probably right. After all he's a cat and not a human. Most male animals probably don't care much about their offspring."

"It actually depends on the species," Dinah grinned, "Male seahorses even give birth."

"If you don't stop her she's going to keep going," Severus warned with a smirk, "She is completely full of useless Muggle information."

"Seahorses are animals, not Muggles," Dinah protested, sticking her nose in the air.

"Actually I think I want to go back to this males giving birth thing. It sounds lovely," Lucy said, messing with Severus.

"Well, as I understand it after the eggs are fertilized the female deposits them into a pouch on the male's belly and then goes away and-" she broke off as Severus put a hand over her mouth. She shoved it off and finished triumphantly, "and the male raises them from there on out! Merlin, Severus, that's all I was going to say!"

"I don't suppose there's any way for us mere humans to manage that, huh? Not even for a couple days. I could really use a break from all this. The aches, the pains, the hormones…"

"It would be nice," Dinah said with a sigh and a laugh, "but I don't think even magic can do that."

"Sadly, I think you're right," Lucy said, petting Dora before stroking a finger along each of the kittens.

Dinah sighed, picking up the brown female kitten and laying her head down on the nearest pillow, cuddling it with a content expression, "They're good husbands, though. They're putting up with this pajama day. Maybe it's the next best thing they can do short of carrying these kids for us," she said, running her hand over her belly.

"Mmm. You're right," Lucy said, scrunching down in bed, "They are good husbands."

* * *

><p>Lucy sat across from Minerva's desk Thursday afternoon, nervously tapping her leg. Sirius reached over to rest a hand on her knee, stilling the action. They'd left their door unlocked with a note inside saying Dinah was welcome to play with the kittens, as she had every day since their birth, while they were out. Everything was in order and things were looking as if they were starting to settle down. Except that Minerva had called them here and had a concerned expression on her pinched face.<p>

"I take it you received another letter from the Board?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Minerva sighed, "I've gotten them to agree to wait until after the new year before talking to Lucy but I'm not sure I can get them to wait much longer than that."

"They'll just have to," Sirius protested.

"Maybe it'll be okay," Lucy said. A part of her wanted this over and done with so she didn't have to worry about it anymore. Another part wanted to run away and achieve the same result. "I'm off most of my restrictions and I…I haven't _done_ anything."

Sirius turned to her, "Lucy, no. It's not…The stress…"

She made sure to meet his gaze before saying, "I don't _want_ to do this, but my choices are: talk to them or quit. And neither one of you are willing to let me quit." She liked her job and deep down she didn't want to leave it, but Lucy was beginning to wonder if all this commotion was really worth getting everyone upset. It was only one class and she was only one professor after all.

"I have already taken the step of responding to the Board informing them that I will consult with Madam Pomfrey on whether or not Lucy is fit enough to go through an interview with them," Minerva said, taking some of the nervousness away from Lucy.

"Thank you. Even if it doesn't work, I'm grateful for everything you've done for me," Lucy said.

"Lucy you _are not_ being sacked. I know I had misgivings in the past about your readiness for this position but you have proved them wrong."

Lucy nodded while Sirius stood, offering her his hand for help up.

"Thank you," Sirius reiterated, "If there's nothing else we should be going."

Minerva waved them out, "Go on. I'll see you both at the Yule Ball."

* * *

><p>Lucy spun in front of the mirror, admiring the ice blue dress Nerissa had made her. It was absolutely perfect and made her feel almost like her old, non-pregnant self.<p>

"Mmm, you look wonderful," Sirius said, wrapping his arms around her.

"I look like a pregnant woman," she sighed, "but that's okay. Dinah's finally starting to look bigger than me."

"Shall we make our way to the Great Hall and see if we can spot your friend then?"

"All right," she nodded and gave the kittens a quick pat before she and Sirius went up to the Great Hall.

They mingled in the crowded Hall before finding a spot to stand and watch the champions and their dates enter and start off the first dance. As other couples started to join the champions Sirius pulled Lucy out on the floor, guiding her through the steps of the traditional dance.

His hands dropped to her waist to lift and twirl her as part of the dance. Lucy just laughed, "Don't you dare. You can't lift me!"

It was nice, focusing on having fun while chaperoning this dance. Dinah had been stuffing her face a moment ago but now it seemed that she and Severus were joining in the dance as well. It was good to see them laughing together even when Dinah tripped a little and Severus shot a death glare at some nearby staring students. And Dinah's dress was lovely as well.

As the music changed and swirled into another song, Sirius steered Lucy over to where Severus looked like he was trying to get Dinah back on the dance floor. "Cut in?" he asked, grinning.

Dinah managed a slight, amused smile when Severus gave a sigh. But, unlike at Lucy's wedding, he didn't protest the switch as he released his grip on Dinah.

Lucy moved to stand in front of Severus while Sirius whirled Dinah away. "So…" Lucy said, feeling a little awkward.

"You... appear to be enjoying yourself," Severus finally said awkwardly.

"Yes, I'm…trying not to think about the Board of Governors," she said, making sure to keep the smile plastered on her face so that Sirius didn't worry.

"Good," he frowned, "Minerva is keeping them at bay, so you should try not to think about them. It will do you no good to dwell."

"Easier said than done when they keep sending letters demanding an interview," she confessed as they started dancing.

"You've received more letters?" his frown deepened.

"Several. Most to Minerva. One directly to me," she dropped her eyes for a moment, staring at Severus's chin. "I want to quit," she whispered, "If I quit they'll leave it alone. They'll have no reason…" It felt horrible saying those words out loud because she knew in her heart that she didn't want to leave her kids, but she feared that might be the best option.

There was a long pause and she felt Severus sigh before he said firmly, "You do not want to quit. You will not give up and let them win."

A small, genuine smile crept onto Lucy's face, "Sirius said nearly the same thing you know." She lowered her head so that she was looking down at their feet, "I don't _really_ want to quit but I don't want to reveal everything to them either. I'm done with that. I've left it behind. I don't want to go through it again. Surely you can understand that, Sev?" She gasped, her head snapping up, realizing what she had said, "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't meant to… For what it's worth I don't care if you call me Lu or Luce.

"Severus?" she prompted when he seemed to be quiet for a long time.

His lip quirked into a half-smirk but he didn't look angry, just bemused. "You..." he hesitated, "May call me Sev. If you truly want to."

That earned Lucy's first true smile since she'd mentioned the letters, "I'll try to keep it to a minimum," she promised. "Anyway, Minerva's been doing her best to keep them at bay but she doesn't think they'll hold out much longer. I don't know what to do…"

"Prove your worth. You _can_ do that, Lucy, you know that. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise and will garner great respect for your position. I think you would enjoy that. And, if you leave Hogwarts, Dinah will be miserable so I hereby forbid you from doing anything of the sort," at that last bit he almost smiled.

Lucy giggled, "Well, I wouldn't want to be the cause of Dinah's misery. Thank you… for the confidence and the amusement."

He gave a slight smile, "To think that I am starting to make jokes... actually, I'd rather not think about it."

"Mm, it is a rather frightening thought."

Severus gave her a slight smile, "Do not think about the Board of Governors today. Enjoy yourself as you have been."

"I'm trying," Lucy confessed, "if nothing else for him," she nodded towards Sirius and Dinah who were beginning to make their way back over, "and One."

"Having your priorities in order and trying is the first step," Severus agreed as they met Sirius and Dinah.

"Thank you for the dance," Dinah said to Sirius as they went back to their spouses.

"You're welcome," he said, gently putting his arm around Lucy and leading her off the dance floor. "You should rest some," he said.

"One doesn't think so," she grinned, taking a seat and resting a hand on the baby wiggling around inside her.

"One is only concerned with doing acrobatics in there and keeping you up all night."

"And making sure I eat. Don't forget that. Oh, and visit the loo regularly too."

"Yes, that too," Sirius grinned.

Lucy smiled and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder, watching the other couples dance. After awhile the baby's movements slowed and Sirius gave her a concerned look. "I think the baby's just sleeping. They do do that from time to time."

It was around that time that Minerva came up to them, "Have you seen the Snapes? I need someone to check the courtyard for students. Severus usually likes doing that."

"I saw them heading out the main doors a few minutes ago," Lucy yawed.

"You tired?" her husband asked, "Why don't we head back to our rooms? I'm sure Minerva won't mind."

"Of course," Minerva agreed, frowning in concern, "Your health is of the most importance."

"If you need help rounding up the students later just let me know," Sirius offered.

"No," Lucy protested, "That's my job. I can do that." She thought back on her conversation with Severus. "I can't give them a reason to fire me. If I'm going to leave this place it will be on my own terms."

"Lucy, you're pregnant," Sirius stated. As if that wasn't obvious.

"Dinah's pregnant and she's not shirking her responsibilities. She's not being told what she can and can't do. She's not being treated as a special case. I shouldn't be either."

"Lucy," Minerva said, "like it or not you _are_ a special case. You have had complications that Dinah has not. Please be assured if Dinah was in the same situation as you I would be treating her just as I am you."

"But-"

"Go to bed," Minerva insisted, "If I need your help later on I will make sure to have Sirius wake you, but I highly doubt there will be many problems tonight."


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

"Can you believe that?" Lucy asked, sitting in Dinah's living room after telling her about the end of the Yule Ball last night, "I mean they wouldn't be treating me like this if I wasn't pregnant and like I said they aren't treating you like this either. They didn't send you to bed because you were a little tired."

Dinah smiled, "I'm sure it's frustrating, and I do agree that just being a little tired is likely not any reason to be concerned, and you probably could have helped out some. But you should still try to take it a _little_ bit easy given your history, though you're doing better certainly," she assured, "Sirius and Minerva are just concerned for your well-being."

"Yeah… I know," she frowned, "It just gets annoying sometimes. Did Severus tell you what I did to him last night?"

Dinah bit her lip but couldn't stifle a giggle as she nodded, "He did. It was amusing enough to talk about it afterwards but I really wish I could have seen it at the time."

"It was embarrassing! His face _was_ hilarious but I was mortified. I didn't do it on purpose the 'Sev' just slipped out while I was telling him how I wanted to quit…"

"I know," Dinah smiled, a little frown appearing briefly on her face, though, at the mention of quitting, "He told me. He was shocked, that's certain, but he didn't chastise you for it. He's become so tolerant these days, you know?"

"Yes, he has. Him disciplining me wasn't something I was worried about actually. I was just afraid I'd overstepped my bounds," Lucy said, starting to root around in the school bag she'd brought down with her.

"No..." Dinah said slowly, "I do think he's fine with it. It will take a bit of getting used to, but he secretly likes being liked. I always try to get him to admit it but he refuses. How surprising," she laughed.

Lucy laughed along with her friend, and pulled out a number of envelopes, "I know we're having dinner together tonight but I have to give these to you while I'm thinking about it. Another pregnancy symptom I guess. If I wait I'll forget about it. I forgot where I put my book the other day, took two hours to find it…"

Dinah chuckled absently, but seemed more curious as she took the envelopes, "What are these, then?"

"Well, I know you're going to be going to visit your family so I was hoping you could deliver these for me. Thank you cards for Dahlia, Aunt Mildred, and Rosa… and some Christmas presents. I didn't know what to get them so we offered to take them out to dinner sometime."

"Oh, how nice," Dinah said, smiling with a touched expression, "I'm sure it will mean a lot to them. Mum has already told me that she's picked out a lovely gift for you and Sirius."

"Ah," she said, snatching a hankie out of her pocket as the expected tears sprung to her eyes, "They didn't have to do that. Really. We weren't expecting anything or…"

Dinah laughed, "But you gave _them_ a gift, Lucy. All this does is show that both of your hearts are in the same place."

Lucy giggled through her tears, "But still… I _like_ being liked. It sort of… makes up for my father in some ways."

"Well, it _should_, Lucy," Dinah said, looking a little concerned again but still keeping a smile on her face, "Because everyone likes you. I know when it's your father and you grew up exposed to him more than anyone else it's easy to form a complex, but you shouldn't. _He_ was in the wrong, not you."

She sighed again, "It must have been nice to have normal parents." Feeling rhythmic little movements within her she smiled and put a hand on her stomach, "Too bad for this kid, it's not getting normal parents. Though One is getting hiccups I think."

"It happens," Dinah grinned, "And normal is highly overrated. At least, as long as you're the fun kind of abnormal."

"Then your cousin Larry must have had the most wonderful childhood. You know, with Aunt Mildred being the fun type of abnormal and all," Lucy smirked.

Dinah gave her a look, "Well, she crosses the line a bit, you know. Granted, _Larry_ is the one who won't move out of his parents' house."

"Well, when I met Sirius he _was_ still living with his mother too, but I think the situation was a bit different."

"Very," Dinah agreed, looking up as the door opened and Severus walked in, "Oh, you're back. Finish your potions work?"

"Indeed," he agreed, and then gave a nod, "Lucy."

"Sev," she nodded with a giggle, "Oh, Dinah. I told your husband this and I'm sure you've already assumed this but just so we're clear. I don't care if you call me Lu or Luce either. People mostly call me Lucy in general and close friends and family will go for Lu more than Luce. The only thing I beg you not to call me is Lucille. Henley used to call me that when he was really upset. Which actually might be one of the reasons it took so long to release me from St. Mungo's… It's not my name and that's what was on most of the paperwork…"

Severus had been giving her a smirk and a raised eyebrow for her use of his nickname, but his expression shifted at her last sentence. Likewise, Dinah was frowning, "Did he actually think it was your name, like he didn't _know_, or did he do it on purpose just to spite you? Either way is bad but I want to know which one it was."

"He knows that's not my name," Lucy said, shaking her head, "He used to call me that to piss off Mum. Then it was to get me mad. I don't know that he would have thought it through enough to do that so it was harder for me to have visitors or to get discharged. At the very least he did it to annoy me, though it was probably more than that."

"There is a certain amount of evidence for such a conclusion," Severus admitted with a frown, "The Ministry is notoriously bad at keeping track of people's identities."

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "I was in that department once… I've never seen a more disorganized place. It baffles the mind."

"It's too cruel that their inefficiencies might have harmed innocent people," Dinah said, shaking her head, "I wonder how many others have suffered unnecessary hardships."

"I'd like to think this kind of thing happens very rarely, but it's impossible to say. Ow!" she grimaced rubbing her lower ribs, just above where One was resting.

"And your little One never fails to lighten the mood," Dinah said with a laugh, running a hand over her own abdomen, "Mine is so quiet lately. Perhaps it will be a well-behaved child."

Lucy grinned, "Well, you've met One's father so is it really that surprising?"

She smiled, "No. You've really made your match with the two of them, Lucy. You need mood lighteners to remind you not to do silly things like quit. Don't quit, okay? I'd miss you too much."

Lucy ducked her head, trying to hide the tears that had returned, "Thanks. I'm not going to do it. I guess it's just one of those things you think about doing. I don't want to have to deal with it all again but… They don't have a right to know and I don't want to tell them. I don't think quitting would change anything really though. It's like your parseltongue issue in some ways. It doesn't matter; it's not affecting anything; it doesn't make me a bad person or teacher, but they all seem to think it does."

"I don't know who 'they all' are," Dinah said fiercely, "But if they do think that then they're wrong, and I _don't_ think that everyone does feel that way."

"It seems like it sometimes," she said, lifting her head to look at her friend, "Dinah I… I should go but I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate everything you've done… that both of you have done," she corrected, her gaze shifting to include Severus, "I… It means so much…" Lucy had to stop for a moment to settle herself, her emotions combined with her pregnancy hormones getting the best of her. "Sorry," she mumbled, "I wasn't going to say anything because I knew I'd never get through it all…"

"You don't have to say anything," Dinah assured her, "We understand."

She wiped her eyes and nodded, attempting to get off the couch. The task seemed to be getting more difficult by the day, "Thank you for understanding… and for being so protective. It helps knowing it's not just me and Sirius."

"Of course you're not alone in this," Dinah said, "Sev, be a gentleman and help her stand. I'd do it but I can't get up either," she teased.

"Mm, yes," he smirked at Dinah and then extended a hand for Lucy.

"Thank you," Lucy said again, taking Severus's hand and finally managing to stand, "I bet you're cursing Sirius right now for not coming down with me, aren't you?" she teased, "He probably would have but he's actually busy."

"I am not opposed to this simple gesture," Severus frowned, "but perhaps we should save the remainder of the emotional displays for gifts this evening. No doubt you will need to save your energy," he said with a very slight smile.

She returned his smile, "You're likely right. I don't know about you guys but One has been doing it's level best to keep me awake all night."

Dinah shook her head, "Again, no. This one... well not 'One' but this _one_... um, you know? Well, it's been very quiet and calm as of late."

"I know," Lucy nodded, "and you're lucky. We'll see you guys later then as Severus is right and I think a nap is definitely in order."

"Okay," Dinah grinned and gave a little wave, "Enjoy your rest. Oh, and as far as what we were talking about earlier... maybe you can work slowly with Sirius and Minerva and let them see that you can do more stuff little by little. It won't be instantaneous, but..."

"One step at a time," Lucy said, before waving and exiting the room.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you can carry that?" Sirius asked as she carried the Snape's festively wrapped gift down to the dungeons later that same evening.<p>

"Yes," Lucy said tightly, trying to be patient with her husband. "Dahlia said Dinah would love this and it's not something that's likely to annoy Severus too much."

"As long as you're sure," he said, "If it gets too heavy I can carry it."

"I know," she muttered, "but you don't have to. We're here. What you can do though is knock on the door."

She leaned up against the wall, holding the gift on the top of her swelling stomach while Sirius knocked and the pair of them waited for the door to be answered.

"You're here! Welcome!" Dinah said cheerfully, opening the door and hugging them each in turn, somehow managing it with both hers and Lucy's swollen abdomens.

"Thanks," Lucy grinned, "You changed from this morning."

"I know!" her friend beamed, spinning around in the casual Christmas green dress she had put on with silver accents, "I thought I should dress up a little for our official holiday dinner. Severus says I look lovely but I think I look fat," she shrugged, "but what can you do?"

"Oh, I know how it is. I feel the same way most of the time. _I_ don't think you look fat but I'm sure you won't believe me. I think I look way more pregnant than you. Happy Christmas," she said, holding out the present.

"Thank you," Dinah took it and beckoned for them to come through the office and into the main room, "I'll set it by the 'tree I insisted on putting up', which is now it's official name, right Severus?" she asked, walking up to kiss her husband on the cheek.

"Well, you _did_ insist upon it," he retorted, running a brief hand through her hair before she disappeared to put the present down. He turned to nod at Lucy and Sirius, "Hello."

"Happy Christmas," she repeated, going over to hug Dinah's husband and give him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I... er... Happy Christmas," Severus muttered, his face flaring as he looked away from her.

"Aww, how sweet," Dinah cooed, walking over to take his arm.

"Silence, woman, and sit down," he growled, making her laugh as she pulled him down to sit next to her on the couch, "I thought we'd talk for a little, then eat, and then do gifts," Dinah said with a smile.

"That sounds fine," Sirius agreed, leading Lucy over to a chair and helping her into it.

"We've been thinking," Dinah said, running her hand absently over her growing baby, "And we'd like to invite you over for dinner again on January 9 for Severus's birthday," she smiled when he placed his hand over hers, "You know, last year we weren't all this close and maybe this year we could have a little get-together. Nothing fancy, of course, and neither do your gifts need to be fancy as we just did Christmas, but I wanted to extend the invitation."

"Gifts are not necessary," Severus said, an odd frown on his face.

"Hush, you, yes they are," Dinah gently admonished, before blushing and looking back at them, "Or, well, I'm sorry I didn't mean for that to come out as though I was _demanding_ gifts or anything. That's not what I meant."

"We'd never think that Dinah," Lucy assured her friend, "After all I _did_ get him a gift last year too."

"That's what I keep telling him, and it was a lovely gift!" Dinah said.

"It was a good gift, and more than enough," Severus argued.

"I'm glad you liked it but that won't prevent you from getting another one. Assuming I don't grow too pregnant to walk around a store by then. I swear walking is getting so tiring lately."

"I told you you should have let me carry the present."

"It wasn't too heavy and we didn't walk that far today. I'm not tired."

Dinah flashed her a smile and a brief nod, understanding what she was trying to do, "It's nothing big, Sirius. I get tired walking too, but that's just a natural part of pregnancy. You wouldn't want to deny your wife all those fond memories, would you?"

"I'm not trying to deprive her of memories," he explained, "I just want her and the baby to stay healthy."

"I know that," Lucy said, twisting a little to look at him, "and I know sometimes it's scary because I've already had one problem. I don't want to have another, but I can't live in some sort of protective charm."

"She'll keep them both healthy," Dinah said, "Once you have a scare like that you're always extra cautious, I'm sure, but we also know our own bodies. As long as you feel okay, Lucy, I say carry as much as you want!"

"But…" Sirius started.

"I know I can be stubborn and do more things than I should but not letting me do _anything_ isn't the solution either."

"I didn't mean to make you feel like you couldn't do anything," he frowned.

"I know and most of the time you don't. It's just when you do it's really irritating."

"See?" Dinah smiled, "Communication is the first and most important step."

"Mm," Lucy nodded and sighed, "I should have dressed up too… I didn't even think of it. I just feel rather dumpy today."

"You look great," Dinah protested, shaking her head, "So are we on for January ninth then?"

"Yes, of course. We wouldn't miss it," Lucy grinned, "Even if I do feel like a dumpy, old cow that day."

"You're not a dumpy, old cow," Sirius protested, "You're young enough to make Aunt Mildred give me looks and I don't think you're as big as you think you are."

"It's true, I think it's all in your head," Dinah assured her, "You were bigger than me at the beginning and I'm afraid it gave you a bit of a complex or something... I _am_ sorry about that. But now I am most definitely bigger than you. We can measure if you want, I'd swear my life on it," she grinned.

Lucy laughed, "It's okay and it wasn't your fault. That whole 'hiding it until I'm married' thing probably didn't help either."

"True," Dinah agreed, before turning to her husband, "Well, it's official, they're coming. And you know what that means," her tone turned teasingly sinister.

"What?" Severus demanded, his raised eyebrow conveying a high amount of suspicion.

"It means that_ you_ ..." she poked a finger in his chest and began to walk them up towards his face as she spoke, "have to make... a list!" she ended with a tap on his nose.

"Do not do that," he ordered, grasping her hand and lowering it, "And why must I make yet another one of your infernal 'lists'? If it's that important they can use whatever is left from my Christmas list that you forced me to make."

"List I forced you to make, tree I insisted on putting up," Dinah teased, "I'm just so demanding, aren't I?"

"Oh yes," Lucy teased, "It's all about Dinah no one else, right?"

"Well, you didn't demand on a list or on putting this tree up," Dinah teased back.

"No, I didn't," she grinned, "but I'm glad you did. The tree makes it so much more Christmassy."

"No, no," Dinah waggled a finger at her, "Not 'tree'. 'Tree I insisted on putting up'. That's it's official title you know. After all, everything _is_ about me, right?"

"Yes it is, oh great pregnant one," Lucy said, having a hard time not laughing.

Dinah laughed, "Thanks. You ready for dinner now? I confess I'm getting quite hungry."

"For the time being, at any rate," Severus rolled his eyes.

"Me too," Lucy agreed, "I haven't eaten since lunch."

"Me either, let's order food!" Dinah grinned, clapping her hands together and attempting to stand only to plop back down onto her bum in the couch.

Severus chuckled, "You must learn to give up on that now, my dear," he said, standing and extending a hand to help her up.

"Oh, it's possible to get up on our own," Lucy insisted, using the arms of the chair to lever herself up. That's where she got stuck… but she determinedly found a way to get herself to her feet, "It's just rather difficult."

"Excellent!" Dinah clapped for her once Severus had helped her to her feet, "I bow down to your much better skills!" She started to bend at the waist and then grinned, "Oh, probably not a good idea."

"Yeah," Lucy said, trying not to laugh, "We sort of lost the ability to bend a while ago."

Dinah giggled, "Yeah, but it'll be worth it when these wonderful little individuals are born. Until then, let's go stuff our faces!"

Sirius chuckled, "I hope you don't plan to 'stuff your faces' constantly until you two have these babies."

"Oh, we might," Dinah grinned, leading them over to the table where their requested feast of Christmas goose and trimmings and all manner of holiday delicacies awaited them. "I wanted to make homemade Christmas cookies like I do every year but we don't have kitchen facilities," Dinah said sadly as they dug into their meal, "Oh! We should get a kitchenette put in here, Sev! When we do the nursery expansion this coming month!"

Lucy frowned a little and looked around as she sat, "_Why_ have I never noticed you don't have a kitchenette? We have one… I guess I just assumed everyone else did too. And one good thing about having a stay-at-home spouse... we've had the nursery expansion in for awhile. It's mostly done! You should come see it some time! I should have invited you before. I guess it's another one of those things that just fell out of my mind. Pregnancy brain. I've been told about it by Tonks, Aunt Molly, Madam Pomfrey…"

"Ah, so that's what it is," Severus quipped while Dinah gave him a playful, light smack.

"I'd love to see it!" she said, "It might give me some ideas for ours. Right now all our wonderful gifts are stuffed in a closet using wizard space."

"It's so beautiful… at least I think so. There's this huge comfortable armchair and ottoman near the window that my lovely husband bought for me. Well, probably us but I think I'm going to end up using it more, especially at night, breastfeeding and all."

"It sounds lovely," Dinah smiled, "And being up all night breastfeeding will certainly be an adventure."

"An adventure in exhaustion," Lucy said.

"Yeah, we'll have to see," Dinah giggled as they continued with dinner and friendly chatting. Soon, dessert was over and Dinah set down her fork, "Ready for gifts?"

Severus sighed, "I suppose you want us all to go sit by the tree you insisted on putting up, then?"

Dinah giggled and looked at them, "See, I told you that was its official title."

"Yes, you did," Lucy said, "let's go do gifts." The four of them made their way back into the room near 'the tree Dinah insisted on putting up'. Having sat in a chair, Lucy didn't get up to get the gifts. Sirius did it for her instead. Handing a larger one to Dinah while handing Severus a small envelope.

"Thank you," Dinah flashed him and then Lucy a smile while Severus muttered his own thanks. She tore open her paper first to find a bamboo steamer and a large wok.

"I hope you like that. Dahlia said you would. She ordered it for me and everything. I mean she sent me a Muggle catalogue and we picked those out… with some back and forth owls to your Mum but…" Lucy said, nervous that her friend would like her gift.

"It's wonderful, Lucy!" Dinah said, smiling with pleasant surprise in her gaze, "And that you and Mum worked together to get me a Muggle gift, that just shows so much thoughtfulness. Now all I need is that kitchenette!"

Lucy giggled, relieved that Dinah liked the gift. "Well, we didn't think about you not having a kitchen here, but I'm glad you like it. Don't let me forget that we have to pay her back for that yet. She told me how much it was but said not to worry about getting money exchanged and sent to her just yet."

"All right, we'll figure it out," Dinah said, then nudged her husband, "Open yours."

"All right. Thank you," he said again with a very slight smile at Lucy and Sirius, opening his envelope and pulling out a slip of paper.

"I know it's kind of cliché to get you a gift certificate now but it was on your list…"

"There's two in there actually. One to the Three Broomsticks and the other's to Madam Puddifoot's," Sirius grinned.

He looked up at them with a smirk, "Yes, the Three Broomsticks certificate is appreciated, but... Madame Puddifoot's, indeed. I suppose it must mean something that this year you are comfortable in giving me..." he grimaced a little, "joke gifts."

"Gag gifts," Dinah corrected him, leaning in to say into his ear, "But they do still serve food there that we can eat. Like pudding cake, with the pudding_ in_ the cake."

"Just as long as you never make me enter it," he growled.

Lucy giggled, "It's not that bad, Severus. Though Madam Puddifoot might start to imply you use her desserts for… other than their intended purposes."

"And that would be none of her damned infernal business!" he snarled as Dinah covered a giggle.

"Maybe not," Sirius said, "but she'll make it her business. Though you're probably safe. She didn't start that until our seventh trip when _someone_ let it slip that we weren't going to be using silverware to eat the pudding."

"I did not need to hear that," he muttered, setting the gift aside before looking at them again, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Both of you," Lucy said, Sirius nodding in agreement.

"Oh! Here, now it's your turn," Dinah said, waving her wand to levitate two large gift boxes with big bows on them from underneath the 'tree she insisted on putting up' and floating them over to Lucy and Sirius.

"I'm proud of you, thinking to use magic," Severus teased.

"Oh, you shush," Dinah giggled, shoving him playfully.

"Dinah these are so pretty I almost don't want to open them," Lucy said, carefully undoing the bows and wrappings. Inside was a large box of Muggle looking cake mixes, frostings, candles, and sugar flowers. Along with them was a couple of handwritten recipes, a long flat knife that the package said was an icing knife, and one more thing that said 'pastry bag and a set of 12 tips'. "Cake stuff! It's cake stuff right?" Lucy said, grinning at Dinah.

"Mmmhmm," Dinah nodded, blushing a little, "I saw it online and right away I thought of you. You like making cakes, right? You can do it the Muggle way, if you like, or you can use magic, I just thought you might have fun with it..."

"Oh, I will. I just have to find an occasion to make a cake for now!"

"Well, if you _wanted_ to you could make one for Sev's birthday, but I'm not demanding it," Dinah grinned.

"Can I?" she asked, eager. "You wouldn't mind? Either of you?"

Severus sighed, "If you must."

"It'll be great," Dinah assured him.

"It is not the cake I was referring to, it is all this unnecessary fuss over the date," he grumbled.

"I know. It'll still be great," in contrast, Dinah remained cheerful.

"Any particular flavor you'd like?" Lucy asked, still excited about her present. "Chocolate, yellow, spice, devil's food, red velvet, cherry?"

"And do you care if it looks diseased?" Sirius asked, teasing.

"Come now, you don't want to sound ungrateful," Dinah gently chided before turning back to Lucy, "I think spice or red velvet sounds good. Both have cream cheese frosting."

"Great! Oh," she said, digging inside a little more, "there's an instruction book on decorating too! That's so thoughtful!" Lucy unexpectedly started crying, touched at her friend's thoughtfulness.

"Lucy!" Dinah jumped a little in her seat, while Severus muttered something incomprehensible, "Is the gift okay? Did I do something wrong? I wasn't trying to say it matters if you can decorate or not, I just thought you might enjoy it..."

"I do! It's a wonderful gift! I'm just so grateful!" she sobbed, taking the handkerchief Sirius held out to her.

"It's just the hormones, remember?" Sirius asked, giving a little smirk.

"Yeah..." Dinah hesitated, "Are you okay? I'd hug you but by the time I get up your wave of hormonalness might be over," she teased.

"I'm fine. It'll pass soon I'm sure," she said, trying to grin. "Open your present," she told her husband.

Sirius ripped open his package to find a large carrier thing, a tall clear container that looked like it was for holding liquids, and a bag full of nuts, raisins, and brightly colored candies.

Dinah blushed, "I hope it's not too weird or anything. It's just... I kind of wanted to go with the Muggle 'kit' theme after buying Lucy's cake one and I thought you might like this stuff. It's basically Muggle outdoors hiking and camping things... a bottle for water, some snacks, and a carrier that has a spot to hold a child too, if you wanted to take the baby around the woods or something. Really, you and Lucy could both use any of the things, if one of you wanted to be in Animagus form or... you know? I just thought, something that you could use to explore the world but also enjoy the company of your wife and child..." she finished, her face a little red as she babbled, clearly something Lucy had influenced, "I didn't think a tent would be necessary because wizard tents work so much better, but Muggle backpacks can be used with wizard space."

"It's not weird," he said, "It's… thoughtful." Sirius looked over at Lucy, probably checking to see if she was going to burst into tears. "Hiking and camping should be fun. We can explore more of Scotland next summer. We didn't get out of Hogsmeade much this past summer," he grinned.

"We didn't even leave the _house_ much last summer," Lucy blushed.

Severus made an exasperated noise, but Dinah smiled, "I'm sure. But I'm so glad you like the gifts."

"We do and a lot of the time last summer was spent planning for the wedding," Lucy grinned, "Thank you so much."

"You're so welcome," Dinah said, as Severus gave a brief nod. She sighed and leaned back on the sofa, taking a quick glance at the clock on the wall, "So, it's not late yet at all, we should just sit and chat, play a game or something, sing Christmas songs..." she said, which made Severus scowl. She giggled, "Oh! Sev, order up some more snacks! I'm hungry again!"

* * *

><p>AN: This chapter kind of cuts off in a weird place I know, but it was nearly twice as long before I cut it off. Not to worry though the rest of it shall be following in a moment. :)


	56. Chapter 56

A/N: Behold! The rest of the scene :-p. Hopefully it makes reading this less intimidating. I know I don't like to read super long chapters on here so I try to keep them at a reasonable length even if it means cutting scenes in strange places.

* * *

><p>Chapter 56<p>

"Not me, thanks. We should play Twister! I miss playing Twister," Lucy suggested, excited.

"Oh, yes, let's!" Dinah agreed, "But first I need popcorn, Sev. Are you listening to me?"

"I am not deaf," he growled, "Two more months of this I have to endure. Though I suppose it's good that you're eating. Now how are you supposed to eat popcorn and contort yourself in that infernal game at the same time?"

"Do I dare even point out that you both have trouble getting off the couch by yourselves. So how are you supposed to play this game?" Sirius asked.

"Oh," Dinah's face fell, "I forgot."

"How you can _forget_ is beyond my comprehension," Severus rolled his eyes.

Lucy's mood decidedly drooped at the realization that they really couldn't play Twister. "Probably because I have such a list of things I can't do now that one more thing is just too much."

"Aww, well we can play something else," Dinah offered, pouting a little, "Severus! Popcorn!"

"You are perfectly capable of contacting the house elves _yourself_, you know?" her husband exclaimed after being ordered around for the third time, standing up and glaring down at her.

Dinah ignored his frustration and turned to Lucy, "Ooh, he's right. That's something we _can_ do, pregnant or not!"

"Yeah, but it's not as fun as Twister. Oooh! I think I saw one on your shelf called Picturearry or something? Is that a game we pregnant people could play?"

"Oh, Pictionary is a lovely game," Dinah smiled, holding her hand out to her husband, "If you'll help me up I'll both order the popcorn and get the game."

He sighed, taking her hand and lowering it down to her side, "No, I'll do it. And have your magical instincts from earlier worn off so quickly? A summoning charm could retrieve the game," he drew his wand, "_Accio_ ..." he glanced from Dinah to Lucy for the name of the game.

"Picturearry," Lucy nodded.

"Pictionary," Dinah corrected.

Severus sighed, "I don't suppose _'Accio_ infernal Muggle game' will work?"

"Maybe," Lucy giggled, "but probably not."

Severus summoned the Picture-nary game over to them and put in an order with the house elves for popcorn and pumpkin juice, which took about an hour because Dinah kept adding stipulations to the order like 'buttery, with salt, but not _too_ much salt, and extra sweet pumpkin juice please, but not _too _sweet'. While she waited for them to finish Lucy opened the game box and began to investigate its contents.

She found a game board, one more like that Monopoly game than Fred and George's board game, a pad of paper, some playing pieces, rectangle cards, and a tiny hourglass. "How do we play this Dinah?"

"Well," Dinah smiled, settling down with her best friend - the bowl of popcorn - and reaching out to point to things, "You have to play in teams, so we can do couples or girls against boys or reverse couples," she took a break to nibble on some popcorn before continuing, "And put your color on start. Whoever finishes first wins and you move forward by picking one of these cards," she pointed to the box of cards, "And drawing whatever is on the card for your partner to guess, like a cat or - LUCY!" she shrieked, her head shooting up and her eyes wide with realization and shock.

"What? What?" Lucy asked, frantically looking around her.

"You should have brought Dora and the kittens!"

"I should have. I thought about it," Lucy admitted, "but I didn't know how Godric would be with them and, well, Dora's been rather grumpy lately. Won't let Sirius anywhere near the kittens for the last day or so."

"She took them under the bed and Lucy can't get down there," Sirius added, "I think the cat knows this."

"Mm, cats do seem to know things sometimes," Dinah agreed, "Sometimes you hear of cats that aren't trusting of men, too. But Dora's always loved you before, hasn't she?"

"Yeah," Lucy answered, "she's never had a problem with Sirius. I was hoping it's just because it's her first litter and she'll settle down in a couple weeks when the kittens start getting more independent. Dora doesn't hiss or anything as long as we use my side of the bed to get in and out. I'm thinking Sirius's side is just too close to her babies or something."

"Well, she's a good mother. I hope we can be just as good," Dinah smiled, stroking her belly a little.

Sirius chuckled, "I think you will be but I do hope neither of you will hiss and attack me if I get to close to the babies."

"Oh, I think you might enjoy Lucy attacking," Dinah teased.

"Depends on the method," he grinned.

Severus sighed, but Dinah went ahead and explained the rest of the game to them, "So, how did you want to separate teams?"

"Couples probably," Lucy said, "Can you imagine these two playing together?"

"I really can't," Dinah giggled, "Well, our team will go first so I can sort of show you two how we play. Severus, draw a card, please."

"You are making me draw?"

"Sure," she grinned, "I'd like to see how you are at it. Oh, now, I think it's only fair that if you draw something and you don't know what it is you can pick a different card," she assured Lucy and Sirius.

"Thanks," Lucy said, "I mean I figured we could always ask you what something was but that probably wouldn't be as fair."

"Yet another ridiculous Muggle game to add to the list of things I've played," Severus grumbled, drawing a card and then setting it aside before drawing another one, then doing the same and drawing another one. This continued for about a minute before Dinah exploded with:

"There is _no way_ you don't know what all those things are!" she pointed to his ever-growing 'no' pile. "Honestly, you were half raised in the Muggle world and you've lived with me in it for an entire summer!"

"I simply choose not to draw anything Muggle-related," he replied, sneering at the cards.

"I stipulated that you can pick a different card only when you don't know what something is, not because you just 'don't feel like' drawing it. Here!" she dug into the middle of the bunch of cards and shoved one at him, "Draw that! And I don't care what it is, you're drawing it!"

"Don't aggravate your wife!" Lucy scolded, teasing, "Aggravation and stress go together and neither is good for the baby."

Severus scowled at both Lucy and Dinah before snatching the card his wife held out and looking at whatever was written on it. Then he sighed, "Good, this will do."

"Yes, it will," Dinah ordered, handing him a wooden Muggle writing... thing, "Now draw. Lucy, tell us when the time is up, okay?" She turned the small hourglass over and the white sand began to trickle down from the upper half to the lower half like freshly falling snow.

Lucy watched as Severus drew, grumbling and getting aggravated when Dinah didn't immediately get the answer right. She was so engrossed in watching the entertainment that she forgot to watch the hourglass. "Oh, um," she blushed, "time's up. It's, uh, probably been up for awhile… you two were amusing."

"How were you unable to tell that this was a bear?" Severus demanded, jabbing his finger at the image.

"How do you get a bear out of that?" Dinah demanded, throwing her hands into the air.

"It is a bear!" he insisted, pointing this time with the writing thing, "The nose, the ears," he pointed to a black dot and then two triangles.

"Those things are not bear ears! _Cats_ have pointy ears, not bears! Bear ears are round. Do you not understand the concept of round? See?" she grabbed his hand and forced him to draw a half-circle with it, "_Round_..."

"I thought it looked kind of like a bear… cat… thing…" Lucy offered, though most of his lines _were_ rather jagged and angular.

"Oh, let's just face it, drawing is not Severus's forte," Dinah laughed, leaning against her husband and batting her eyelashes up at him, "You draw like you write."

"And what is so unusual about that? Is that not intuitive?"

"Mm, I don't think everyone draws like they write," she shook her head with a laugh, "But who knows. Lucy, Sirius, you two think you have the gist of the game now?"

"I think so," Lucy nodded, taking a pad of paper and the Muggle drawing thing from Dinah. She pulled a card and nodded, "Okay, I think I know what that is. Dinah's told me about them anyway." Carefully using the drawing thing, Lucy sketched out a rough looking train with large bird wings coming out of the side of it.

Severus's eyebrow went up as Dinah covered a giggle, "Ah, that's... not quite what they look like, Lucy," she said.

"Oh," Lucy frowned, "I tried… at least _someone_ knew what it was supposed to be," she said, teasing Severus.

He sighed and shook his head. Dinah grinned and then looked at Sirius, "Well, you've still got time to guess. Want to give it a try? Just try to think how Lucy might think."

"A flying bird-train?" he guessed.

"That's close!" Lucy said, excited, then turned to Dinah, "That's close, isn't it?"

Dinah had doubled over, as much as she could given her pregnant belly, in a fit of giggles, "It's close, yes, but no cigar as they say. You've got to be more specific than that. Time's almost up. You know about Muggle vehicles, right?" she asked Sirius.

"Some," Sirius nodded, "Cars, motorbikes, buses… nothing that flies though. Is it some kind of bird?"

Dinah sighed, "The time is up. How could you have heard of those things and not heard of an airplane?"

"Well, wizards have the knight bus so Muggle buses aren't much of a stretch. I've been in your automobile, Dinah, so that shouldn't be a surprise that I know about those. I also used to own a motorbike. You might not have known that though since I lent it to Hagrid the night James and Lily were killed. I was going after Peter and wouldn't be needing the bike any time soon. I believe it got destroyed just before Harry's seventeenth birthday. Severus might know. He was there. I don't recall coming across any airplanes though. Are they popular?"

Dinah laughed a little, "I guess that makes sense, and I knew about the motorbike from the stories. Airplanes are... well, they are popular but very few people actually own their own. Like trains and busses, they're mostly used for public transportation."

"Huh," he said, considering the idea of an 'airplane', "Maybe we should…"

"No," Lucy interrupted, "we're _not_ getting one."

"They don't look anything like this train-bird?" Sirius asked Dinah, ignoring Lucy, "Can you draw me one?"

"Sure, I had actually planned to, now," Dinah grinned, taking a pad of paper and the Muggle thing to sketch.

They all watched as Dinah drew out a long, tube-like thing with lots of little windows and long, flat wings that looked rigid and nothing like a bird's wings. "That's not even close to what I imagined that looked like," Lucy said.

Dinah smiled, "I always forget how little some wizards know about Muggle things. It's just not intuitive to me, I guess."

"We know," Severus smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"It's what we grow up with I think," Lucy said, "Like how I naturally assume something's my fault or how I sometimes find it hard to believe that I'm not going to wake up one morning to find that no one cares about me."

"Lucy," Sirius said, hugging her to him, "I can guarantee you it is almost never your fault and not a single person is this room is going to suddenly decide they no longer care about you. I came back from the dead for you."

Dinah had been reaching for the pad of paper but stopped in the middle, now giving Lucy a sad look while Severus just frowned at her, looking like he disapproved of her attitude again. "That's right, please don't say that, Lucy," Dinah said, "I told you already. I want you to stay here, it wouldn't be the same if you quit. That means that I care about you and I want you in my life."

Lucy smiled and tucked some hair behind her ear, embarrassed, "Thanks. I just meant that our… intuition is sort of based on the experiences we grew up with. I _do_ feel like that sometimes but I also know that it's not going to happen."

"That's better," Severus scowled at her.

"Well, making dirty faces at me isn't going to help," Lucy said, teasing Severus some. After all those looks were so much a part of who he was.

He snorted and turned back to Dinah, "I believe it is your turn."

Lucy stuck her tongue out at him, "That's it, just ignore me."

"I am not ignoring you, it is simply Dinah's turn," he retorted, stubborn.

"All right," she chuckled, rubbing her stomach where One had just kicked her.

Dinah smiled at them both, then grabbed a card, "You all ready? Watch the master at work!" She lifted the writing implement and began to draw.

The "master" drew a couple weird large circles that she quickly abandoned to sketch out something that looked very skeletal to Lucy.

"Oh! Is it a thestral? A boggart that turned into a thestral? A…." she searched for something else that it could be."

"Lucy!" Dinah exclaimed, "Only Severus is allowed to guess!"

"Sorry! I forgot. I just got all excited to guess. I'll be quiet now I promise."

She clamped her lips shut ant let Dinah continue drawing. What ever it was appeared to have four legs, a tail, and a long nose. Lucy wondered if her friend was over estimating her drawing skills.

"An animal," Severus declared.

Dinah frantically shook her head 'no' and jabbed her Muggle utensil at the tail of the image, trying to get her husband to guess, "You can't just say 'animal', you have to pick the _type_ of animal."

"I beg to differ, the instructions clearly state that you must identify the image, and if the image is indeed an animal it should not matter what type it is. Besides, that _thing_ you're drawing looks worse than my bear."

"I _told_ you what it was, Severus. It's a thestral or a boggart that turned into a thestral. Can't you see it's skeletal form? And those right there," Lucy pointed, "I think those are wings."

"Don't help them," Sirius insisted, "We'll never win if you keep giving them the answers."

"If you have any artistic talent you will win easily," Severus frowned, "It is an insect? A bird? A bat?" he guessed.

"No! More specific, more specific!" Dinah exclaimed, jabbing her finger at the tail once more, "The time is running out!"

"I thought you knew things about animals! That tail is too long to fit on a bird, bat, _or_ insect, Dinah!"

"But it's something _else_!" she pressed, almost whining.

"Is it a horse?" Lucy asked, tired of waiting for Severus to guess, "A horse with wings? Oh! Abraxan winged horses? Like the ones Olympe has?"

"Muggles don't know about those kinds of magic creatures, this is a Muggle game!" Dinah exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Lucy squeaked.

"Sorry, Dinah, but time's up," Sirius announced, not really looking very sorry at all. In fact he looked more amused than anything.

"It was a _dragon_!" Dinah insisted.

"You said there were no magical creatures!" Severus exploded.

"I said 'Muggles don't _know_ about' certain kinds of magic creatures, but dragons are all over Muggle mythology, you _know_ that! Honestly!" she threw her hands into the air.

Severus huffed a sigh, sitting back in the couch and folding his arms, "This game is ridiculous anyway."

"Dinah, no, that's not a dragon. Here," Sirius said, picking up the pad and drawing stick, "let me show you what a dragon looks like." He proceeded to sketch out a small, but wonderfully detailed picture of a dragon. A Welsh Green, if Lucy wasn't mistaken.

"Ah," Lucy grinned, "my husband. So talented."

Sirius shrugged, "You don't get a reputation at school for being good at everything without being good at… a great deal of things."

"Wow, look at that!" Dinah breathed, leaning over to stare at the image, "That's great!"

"Thanks," Sirius said, looking a little embarrassed.

Lucy wanted her husband. Badly. Right now. That wasn't going to happen though, so she just kept her mouth shut.

"It's a Welsh Green, right?" Dinah asked, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear before turning to look at her own, "Mine's an Antipodean Opaleye, as you can see."

"Yes, we can all see that easily," Severus droned, his voice positively dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, you shush!" Dinah gave his knee a light smack.

"Ah, yeah. I can tell because of its distinctive…" Sirius lost the battle to keep a straight face and started chuckling.

"Oh, stop!" Dinah laughed, blushing and twirling the Muggle writing tool around on the desk, "I chose the Antipodean Opaleye because it's the kind that's going to be used in the Tournament, if the stupid Ministry would ever get back to me on that. Do you think I should send them an owl?" Dinah asked Lucy, "You know as a gentle nudge slash reminder?"

Lucy shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe. Most are likely on holiday right now but someone's there I'm sure. You can't completely close down the Ministry after all. The next task isn't until the end of February…"

She sighed, "Well, maybe I'll wait till after the holidays. It's just a couple of weeks. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Sirius, it's your turn," she offered him the writing implement.

He took the tool, pad of paper, and drew a card as Lucy turned to Dinah again. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound disinterested or anything. I'm just trying to focus on my job and… it's not that I don't care about what you're doing or don't want to help you as best I can… I'm… not explaining myself very well am I?"

"Ah... no, I get it," Dinah admitted, "I'm sorry if I'm a nag. Really, I can do it on my own, I don't need your involvement, it's my own goal. I just can't help trying to bounce ideas off you sometimes and seek reassurance, you know? But I'm not expecting anything."

"Oh," sighed, feeling a little deflated, "See I didn't explain myself well. You're not nagging me and I don't mind throwing around ideas and that… I just need to do my job exceptionally well. I can't give the Board a reason to sack me."

"No, I understand... but they won't sack you. I won't let them. I can be very convincing," she grinned.

Lucy laughed, "Oh, I know. After all you convinced your husband to allow you to throw him a birthday party."

Severus made a show of groaning again at the mention.

"Oh, you'll have fun," Dinah said, patting his knee, "Now, Sirius, you going to draw or sit there all day?" she fingered the small hourglass menacingly.

Sirius plucked up a card, shook his head, and pulled another. After pulling and discarding five cards he finally found one he was happy with and lowered his head to start drawing.

The familiar form of Nearly Headless Nick soon appeared on the pad of parchment. "Sir Nicholas?" Lucy guessed.

"It sure looks like him," Dinah commented.

"Nope," he said, finishing up the Gryffindor ghost and moving on to The Grey Lady, The Fat Friar, The Bloody Baron, and Moaning Myrtle.

"Well I would have said the House Ghosts but then there's Myrtle…" Lucy mused.

"So close," Sirius grinned.

"They're all… ghosts. Is that it? Is it ghosts?"

"Ghosts," he said, holding up the card for inspection.

"Nice!" Dinah said, clapping, "But really, how dare you be such a good artist, Sirius. We'll need to figure out some sort of handicap to deal with the disproportionate unfairness of your skills," she grinned.

"I thought Twister was a fair game but you two were worried about being able to get back up," Sirius teased.

"Sirius Lycurgus," Lucy mock-glared, "I can barely see my toes. How do you expect me to know if they're on the right colored dot or not?"

Sirius chuckled, "Makes it easier for me to win."

"That doesn't translate to a fair game, though," Dinah laughed. "Well, now that you've guessed correctly you get to move your piece extra spaces."

"Is it fair that I'm more nimble than you? It's hardly my fault," Sirius teased, moving their piece a space.

"Oh, it is _so_ your fault mister," Lucy laughed.

Severus actually laughed a bit at that, but then turned a smirk to his wife, "This means, then..."

"Yes, it's your turn again," Dinah smiled, offering the container of cards to him as he grudgingly drew three before selecting something he wanted.

Lucy and Sirius eventually won the game that evening, beating the Snapes by a wide margin. It caused a fair amount of bickering between the other couple but Lucy tried not to worry. As Dinah said, couples fought and this wasn't that bad really. They were even laughing about it. Well, Dinah was laughing and Severus was grumbling.

After the game, Lucy leaned up against her husband, watching the magical lights that decorated the 'tree Dinah insisted on putting up'.

Dinah sighed, also gazing at the warm lights, "Can you believe it's a year since before? Since Grimmauld Place?"

Sirius chucked, "Yes, a year ago Dinah on one hand hated me and yet on the other she couldn't be mean to me when she caught me in the kitchen with a ring in my hand contemplating how to propose. Severus is lucky. He never had to go through that. It's very nerve-wracking."

Severus's expression had become surprisingly more subdued at Dinah's change of the subject. "I am lucky," he agreed, leaning his head on his wife's and murmuring against her temple, "I am lucky that I was able to avoid that fear. To somehow know for the first time in my life that she would agree to have me."

"Oh, Severus," Dinah whispered, reaching for his hand and sounding quite emotional.

Lucy grinned, happy to see that the bickering hadn't caused any hard feelings.

"It had nothing to do with fear that she'd say no," Sirius insisted, "It was more worry about getting the moment right. After all, some of these _younger_ girls actually care how it's done."

Lucy giggled, "If I cared that much I probably wouldn't have said yes to you while we were in bed."

Dinah chuckled, "Sounds reasonable. And there's nothing wrong with being nervous, Sirius. It's normal and it doesn't make your relationship any better than ours or vice versa. It's just different. Oh, and I never _hated_ you, by the way. Hate is a very strong word that I choose never to use. I just... was very angry with you, that's all," she sighed and closed her eyes, leaning into her husband as his arms tightened around her.

"Oh, I know. No hard feelings," Sirius said, wrapping his arm around Lucy's shoulders.

Dinah smiled, "I'm glad."

It didn't seem that late at all when both women started yawning and Sirius suggested it was time for them to go. Lucy didn't argue; she was exhausted. She hugged Severus, then Dinah, thanking them both for the gifts again. "We'll have to have dinner again when we get back, at least before school starts back up again."


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Lucy sat, surrounded by relatives, at Aunt Molly's kitchen table. She sat amid the hustle and bustle of preparing a holiday feast for a very large family, not allowed to do anything because she was pregnant. She tried not to take it offensively though. After all Aunt Molly had done the same thing to Fleur before Victoire was born.

All around her people went to and fro, waving their wands to set the table, make the food, set the finished dishes on the table…

"It's a short dress, the skirt's a little puffy with some sparkles, and it's more of a blush pink than white," Angelina said, describing her wedding dress to Molly, "but you'll see it when you come with me and Mum to the fitting, Mrs. Weasley."

Her marriage to George was coming up fast; they'd be having it in mid-April. A few gifts had already been exchanged with Fred insisting his present for Katie had to wait until after dinner.

Lucy currently wasn't curious about that though. She was more hungry than anything. It was a bit of being like Dinah with her normal appetite she supposed.

"Have you thought of any names for the baby?" Percy asked, sitting next to his girlfriend Audrey. Ever since the Battle of Hogwarts his relationship with the entire family had improved dramatically. It probably helped that he was far less snobbish than he had been, more able to take a joke… and make them too.

"Plenty," Lucy answered, "but we're not sharing."

"Just don't name it Percy," George joked.

"Oh, we're not opposed to naming One after somebody," Lucy said, Sirius nodding his confirmation. "It'd just be the middle name. After all the baby deserves to be it's own person. It's not a little replica of whoever it's named after."

"That's a lovely idea, Lucy," Uncle Arthur nodded, "Now, let's just leave them be. We'll all find out what name they've picked soon enough."

The family went back to eating and more general conversation. Lucy was still eating when everyone moved into the living room. One good thing about being pregnant, she didn't have to fight for a spot on the couch.

She did, however, have to endure everyone feeling her and watching the baby move. Now _that_ was weird. If they watched her stomach long enough they could actually see the baby move from side to side, roll over, whatever One felt like doing at the moment.

Lucy turned to Hermione, Ginny having snuck off somewhere – likely to snog Harry – and said, "So, you're planning to come back to Hogwarts with us?"

"Yes, I think so. I have a bit more work to do with Professor Snape. She's due quite soon I believe."

"February," Lucy nodded, "Very close now. Think you're prepared to take over her class?"

"Not quite. I'm sure I will be by the time I actually have to take the class over though. Most of the students seem very well behaved and – "

"Can I get everyone's attention?" Fred called above the general chatter of the room. When everyone was looking at him he went over to the tree and grabbed Katie's present, a small box that he handed to her. "One more gift, but it's the most important."

When Katie took the box and Fred got down on one knee everyone knew what was happening, even Katie.

"Marry me?" Fred asked.

"What?" Katie responded, shocked.

Fred shrugged, "Everyone seems to be getting married… having babies. I want that too. I want it with you."

"I want that too," Katie said, moving to kiss Fred. She hadn't opened the present to see the ring that was surely inside but neither of them seemed to mind nor did anyone else in the room.

* * *

><p>Lucy stood in the room of Grimmauld Place looking at the tapestry that held the Black family tree. They'd spent a late night celebrating Fred and Katie's engagement but now they were back at Grimmauld Place to spend a couple days before returning to Hogwarts.<p>

A few months ago she'd started working on a new tree. One that they could display in this room as well, something that would embrace the past but leave room for a happier future for the family as well.

"What are you doing in here?" Sirius murmured, coming into the room.

"Just thinking. I'm happy for Fred. It would have been weird with just George married. Not that the pair of them getting married isn't weird enough…"

Sirius chuckled, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I figured out why you were so against public proposals though. If she'd have said no in front of his whole family…"

"Exactly," she smiled, "It's not that I ever would have said no but… I wouldn't want to feel pressured into saying yes either. There's a whole lot of pressure in a public proposal. And if someone _wanted_ to say no… it's like they can't because it takes a whole lot of courage for a guy to get down on one knee in front of all those people and confess his feelings. Of course if someone wanted to say no to a marriage proposal they probably should have made that clear beforehand or gotten out of the relationship or something."

"Very true," Sirius agreed. He wrapped his arms around her saying, "I'm glad I took Dinah's advice and asked you when we were alone."

"Mmm, me too," she said, resting her head on his chest. "You know this baby is going to have _so_ much more love and family than we ever did."

"We didn't turn out so bad, I don't think."

"No, not really. We do have Dinah and Severus after all."

"And the Weasleys… and Lupins."

Lucy chuckled a little, "Yes, them too."

"We were just missing a few pieces that don't matter anymore. Your father, my parents… they don't matter."

"They matter, just… not that much."

"It's okay to want your father to be a father, but you can't fix him."

"But I want to," she whispered.

* * *

><p>Severus finished packing his bag with a flick of his wand and levitated it out of the closet to sit on the bed. Glancing over at where his wife stood by the dressing table, he saw her lifting up her ponytail to fasten something around her neck. From the reflection in the mirror he could see what it was. A necklace with a coiled silver snake charm.<p>

He felt himself soften, something only she could do to him, and a familiar twinge in his chest from the old days which were only a year ago. He recalled vividly the day he had wandered through London, trying to find the perfect gift to give her for abandoning her after trying to be intimate and failing when his thoughts turned to Lily. The guilt had weighed heavily on him, and he had done the only thing he could think of to make it up to her. Buy her a second, more meaningful Christmas present than the one he had already gotten.

He had not known she was a parselmouth then, but had taken note of her tendency to stare at the Slytherin memorabilia… anything with an image of a snake on it she would look at with an odd longing expression in those days before she had learned to embrace her gift. He had noted that, and the necklace had felt right to him the moment he saw it. Snakes were a part of her, and he had made that connection even without knowing the reason why. He had always been thinking about her. She had even filled his thoughts more than Lily did in those days but he had not noticed it. Merlin, how had he not realized just how much she meant to him? Now it was so easy… but he had needed to get there on his own, he supposed.

Still, sometimes he thought he would spend his whole life trying to make it up to her for taking so long. Though the time may not have been long for some people, it had seemed an eternity for them because they both had so much to go through. It was past now, but… seeing her put on that necklace so lovingly today, realizing how she thought about him just as much as he thought about her, made him feel somewhat nostalgic. He made his way to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, noting how beautiful she was in the lovely dress she had put on, transfigured for her current condition.

"Severus," she murmured, his name on her lips melodic and perfect as she leaned back into him. He let his free hand wander down to encircle her abdomen, where their baby was growing.

Their baby.

"I see you've selected this necklace for today," he murmured back, sliding his hands along her neck to finger the charm.

"Mm," she tilted her head so he could see her smile better, "It's the best Christmas present I've ever gotten."

He felt a smile try to tug at his lips but it was laced with a bit of cautious discomfort as well, "Flatterer. But I'm glad you like it…" he paused, but then could not stop his lips from forming the hesitant words, "Even though I gave it to you before-"

"No," she cut him off, snuggling in and wrapping her arms around his, trying to pull him closer, which he allowed, "I know you loved me even then. You've always loved me."

She knew. As always, she knew without him even having to say it. Severus felt a sigh of relief escape him as he held his Dinah close, a more easy smile forming on his lips. Now that he had her, that great weight that had been on his shoulders for his entire life was gone. Not just lessened, but gone. And he had no idea how to properly express to her how much that meant to him.

He moved to nuzzle her ear, closing his eyes for a moment to indulge in their contact, "Shall we go and greet your infernal aunt, then?"

Dinah laughed, "Now, don't panic, my parents will be there as well you know."

"Then kindly arrange that they are standing between us and Aunt Mildred at all times."

"I'll get right on that," she teased him, leaning forward to press her soft lips to his in a brief kiss, her eyes glittering with mischief. It almost made him want to stay with her here and forego the obligatory family time, but he could not do that to her. And besides, he wanted to be a part of her family life, as much as he could be at any rate.

Though Severus had teased his wife about Aunt Mildred in a light manner, the closer they got to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds the more apprehensive he began to feel about confronting the ridiculous woman again. Though she meant no harm, he was not well-equipped to handle her antics and she seemed to have absolutely no concept of that.

Soon, he was standing in front of his in-laws' home and was starting to have thoughts about bolting back into the dungeons where it was safe. But it was not to be when the door swung open to reveal Edward and Dahlia Samson, Dinah's parents.

"Happy Christmas!" his mother-in-law, who greatly resembled an older version of Dinah, in both looks and some personality traits, enthused, wrapping her arms first around her daughter, who returned the sentiment with enthusiasm, and then around him. Dinah's father followed suit afterwards.

He was beginning to grow accustomed to hugging Dinah's parents. They seemed to understand that he preferred them to keep it brief and to respect that. In truth, the fact that they accepted him so easily was still quite shocking, but pleasant. He suspected they did so because they trusted him to take care of Dinah, which he had vowed when he'd first met them and had vowed to himself long before that date, perhaps even from the day he was born.

They even seemed to like him a bit. Dinah always said that he liked being liked. Maybe she was right. He didn't try to think about it in too much detail, if he could help it. But it was a relief to be accepted into this family. Especially as he had never really had one of his own.

"Happy Christmas," he told them politely, also starting to grow accustomed to these niceties.

Dahlia opened her mouth to say something more but was interrupted by a loud, familiar shriek of "They're here!" And then Severus had no time even to blink before the notorious Aunt Mildred rushed in and bowled his wife over with a hug.

Dinah laughed, "Happy Christmas, Aunt Mildred," she greeted her aunt, returning the hug.

"Happy Christmas! It's so good to see you. Both of you!" she gushed, pulling away.

Severus stiffened and braced himself for contact, but when the woman turned to face him she stopped, not moving and not grabbing, just beaming up at him and extending her hand.

A little too shocked to say anything, he simply raised a questioning eyebrow first at the proffered limb and then at Aunt Mildred.

"It's my special Christmas present to you!" she explained, her voice filled with pride, "I'm restraining myself. You see? A handshake."

Severus just stared for a moment, digesting this. Glancing at Dinah, he saw that both her eyebrows had shot up in pleasant surprise, and when she looked at him he somehow got the message – even without using Legilimency – that this was not a normal occurrence. Dare he say he was almost… moved by the woman's gesture? At least it was greatly appreciated.

"Thank you," he said cautiously, moving to shake her hand, "And Happy Christmas." Yes, he was getting very good with these polite pleasantries indeed.

Next, the remainder of Mildred's family – her husband Winston and son Larry – greeted them, and then the introductions were, thankfully, complete. The most challenging – presumably – part of the day was over with.

"Just look at you," Dahlia gushed, spreading her hands out to encompass his wife's expanding abdomen, "Our little grandbaby is growing so big, isn't he or she?"

Ed smiled, "Have you had any more ultrasounds?"

Dinah shook her head, "We've been letting Madam Pomfrey check on the baby. As far as I know, if the pregnancy remains healthy I won't need any further ultrasounds. And everything has checked out perfectly at all of my appointments as of late."

"That's wonderful, dear," Dahlia approved.

"Oh, I just wish you would find out the sex," Aunt Mildred enthused, "I just couldn't _wait _to find out what Larry was!"

"Mum…" Larry sighed, looking embarrassed. Dinah's cousin was quite an interesting character, Severus thought. He seemed perpetually exasperated with his mother but still remained living with his parents. The Muggle world could be very curious indeed.

Dinah chuckled, "We just want to be surprised, Aunt Mildred. Oh! Here are some 'thank-you' notes from Lucy for the shower gifts," she produced the envelopes and handed them over to her mother and aunt, "I've got one for Rosa as well that I'll give tomorrow. And she sent gifts too but we can open those with the rest after dinner."

"Oh, how sweet! We have gifts for them too, of course," Aunt Mildred gushed. The woman seemed to have only one emotion – 'excited'. Severus suspected tomorrow's visit with their friends – he did dare call them his friends, believe it or not- Rosa and Luke would be a lot easier to deal with than this family visit.

"Yes, I'm so glad you've made such good friends in the wizarding world," Ed said, "and met Severus."

"Me too," Dinah agreed, offering Severus a radiant smile he could not help but return.

"Of course. We're so happy you were able to find such a sweet, doting husband, and that you're both going to bring a little bundle of joy into the world for us to share," Dahlia added.

Severus wasn't sure how to feel about being called 'sweet' and 'doting' but he was again glad for his in-laws' approval.

His mother-in-law smiled and gave him a brief pat on the arm, "We're so happy to have you _both _here this Christmas as well, though it's a few days later."

"We didn't mind pushing it back!" Aunt Mildred cut in, "Not if it meant we could have you both here like this. Seems like it was only a year ago Dinah was telling us all about her mysterious new flame and it slipped out of her that she was in love with you. Oh, you can bet we drilled her after that one!"

"It _was _a year ago, dear," Uncle Winston explained. He was a rather quiet man in comparison to his overbearing wife, but when he did talk there was always a point to it. Severus found him one of the easiest ones in the family to get along with.

"It is good to no longer be 'mysterious' I suppose," he offered, thinking again about how different things had been a year ago. Dinah had accepted her love for him so much earlier than he had accepted his for her. He had made her wait so long. The thought made him put an arm around her waist and pull her close.

"Oh, you two are sweet," Dahlia smiled, "Shall we go in and chat a bit before dinner? I know an event like this is still a little new for you, Severus, but we'll try to take it slow. We usually eat, play a few games, do gifts, sing carols, and then turn in for the night and you can join in as much or as little as you like. But I'm not playing cards with you," she winked.

He allowed himself a small smile and nod, his thoughts again drifting back to the past. His first visit here had been for Easter, and after some surprisingly not awkward introductions, he had spent his first holiday with Dinah's parents. Aunt Mildred and her group had not been here, so it had been easier, and they had been welcoming. Dinah's mother seemed to find it criminal that he always won at cards and so had teasingly sworn off joining him in games of that sort. To top everything off, that had been during the youthening and they had been in their sixteen-year-old bodies. Some photos had been taken, and he found the memories of that day very pleasant to think about.

Dinah had told him that night that she would share her family with him, and that had indeed come to pass. This was his family now too, and with Dinah here to hold that together he found himself rather comfortable about the whole situation. It would be… interesting to see how a family Christmas with the extra people would go.

To his surprise, he was quite open to testing the experience.


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

"Oh, what a fun night! I'm so glad we waited for you two to arrive, it made everything a hundred times better!" Aunt Mildred insisted that evening as she gushed at Dinah by the staircase leading up. She had been going on about the same thing for what felt like an hour now and Dinah was getting rather exhausted.

"Yes, Aunt Mildred," she yawned, "It was wonderful, everything was perfect, now I really think you should go upstairs and meet Uncle Wins-"

"Oh!" she interrupted, "Your uncle really enjoyed playing cards with your husband, you know. Think he tired himself quite out with the challenge of it. And dare I say Severus seemed to enjoy himself, too?"

Dinah fought through her sleepiness to form a reminiscent smile. They had played various games after dinner and Severus had won any of them that were strategy-based, but not some of the more random ones. The evening had then wound down, after gifts, into Severus playing a number of rounds of cards with Uncle Winston, the one member of their family who seemed able to get close to winning against him. Of course, he had not won, but had, as Aunt Mildred said, seemed to enjoy the challenge. And so had Severus. In fact, Severus had been so accommodating throughout the entire holiday and seemed to truly enjoy every aspect of it. It made Dinah feel warm inside.

"Yes, Aunt Mildred," she murmured, "I truly think he did."

"Ah, you're so in love, aren't you?" Aunt Mildred smiled, and Dinah felt herself blush. After all, only a year ago she had been telling her family about her feelings for Severus and he had still been so aloof and she hadn't been sure if he would reciprocate. But their little Christmas date at the Leaky Cauldron had brought many surprises. The way he had held her hand and told her he just wanted to look at her, the way he had kissed her outside in the snow… there had still been ups and downs after that, but the moments they shared on that day had been real expressions of the love they felt deep down. And now a year had passed and he was here, with her family, as her husband, and they were going to have a baby. Her life had changed so much, so fast, but she wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

"I am," she replied, thinking of Severus and feeling almost shy, almost like she was in her sixteen-year-old form again. After all, the only other holiday they had spent together here had been during that time.

"Well, that's good," her aunt patted her shoulder, "Especially as you're about to bring a little bundle of joy into the world."

"We are, aren't we?" she blushed some more, running her hand over her belly, hoping the baby might kick, but it chose to be quiet tonight.

"Yes, you are," Aunt Mildred winked.

Dinah smiled, "You really should go join Uncle Winston. Everyone else is in bed already except Severus and I. He was just putting the cards away. He's probably waiting for me to join him so we can go to bed. You know, pregnant women need their beauty rest."

"Oh, of course, of course dear. Good night, Happy Christmas," her aunt said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Happy Christmas," Dinah waved as her most boisterous relative disappeared up the stairs, and then made her way into the living area, dim and only lit by the colorful glows emitted by the large Christmas tree.

She was surprised to see her husband sitting on the couch, staring around at the floor, which was still littered with empty gift-wrap that had been torn from plenty of boxes earlier that evening. Their gifts from her parents still sat on the coffee table: some 'infernal Muggle technology' items for her and a lovely vintage quill and ink set for Severus. Her parents had been so accommodating and found something in the Muggle world that resembled an item wizards would use. Really, it was no different, and Severus had been both pleasantly surprised and very appreciative. The rest of his gifts had been of a similar nature and he had responded in an equivalent manner.

"Severus?" she asked.

He looked up at her, the curtains of dark, greasy hair that she loved so much moving to frame his face, which expressed a sort of calm awe, "Dinah… I was only thinking…"

"About?" she smiled.

Her husband shook his head as though to clear it, turning back to skim the wrap on the floor, "This is all quite new to me. This… happy family spending a holiday together, opening gifts, playing games, singing carols, and the like… everyone getting along, no hostility, a sense of community… camaraderie… I'm not sure what to call it. I simply… never imagined I would have anything close to this. This was not something that I would ever experience. I resigned myself to the fact that I would not – could not - have this sort of normal life, things most people take for granted. But you've given it to me."

"Severus…" she whispered, her chest going a little tight. He was so open to her now, so capable of sharing these feelings with her. It made her feel special. And she also did know that he had never expected this sort of life. That was why she was so happy she _had _been able to give it to him.

"As I said, it is quite a new experience. I find it hard to believe it's real, and yet here is the proof," he murmured, gesturing to the strewn wrapping, "These are things that I never thought I would have…" he turned to look at her, "Thank you."

Dinah felt that warmth from before again, this time swelling and filling her entire body. She had made him happy. That was all she ever wanted. She walked over to sit next to Severus and wrap her arms around his shoulders, leaning her head against his, "Happy Christmas, my husband."

A slow, gentle smile, still laced with that look of awe, and with plenty of love, formed on his face as he turned his head so their eyes met, "Happy Christmas," he responded, kissing her.

They could not really be intimate here, with all the relatives upstairs, but they could still snog a bit, like when they were teenagers, and then soon they were moving back on the couch so that Dinah could adjust herself around her pregnancy and lay on top of him, resting her head on his chest where she could hear his heartbeat, his hands gently stroking her hair. And they just laid like this in the glowing lights of the Christmas tree. It was not the 'tree she insisted on putting up', but it was still beautiful. Growing up, she had spent many a winter night here in this glow, reading or just thinking, and now she could share that peace with Severus. For the rest of her life and forever.

* * *

><p>"Oh, must you leave already?" Aunt Mildred whined the next morning as Dinah and Severus stood at the door, getting ready to go visit Rosa and Luke for a day before heading back to Hogwarts.<p>

"Unfortunately, yes, Aunt Mildred," Severus said smoothly, raising an eyebrow in that way he had. Dinah was still locked a little in the Christmas spirit from yesterday and found it hard to take her eyes off of him.

"Oh!" she pouted some more, as Uncle Winston and Larry took their opportunity to move in and bid them farewell, the former thanking Severus for the card games the previous night, to which Dinah's husband responded amiably that they would have to do it again sometimes. Severus Snape was turning into a social person right before her very eyes. It was quite astounding really. Especially as he was doing it without changing his basic personality that she loved. He was still Severus, just a more easygoing version.

"It was so good to see you, you'll have to visit again soon," Dinah's mother insisted, moving to hug them each in turn.

"For certain once the baby is born," her father added with a wink.

"We will, of course," she assured them, moving to hug her father next.

"Happy Christmas. We love you both and the baby," Dahlia said, placing her hand on Dinah's stomach as Aunt Mildred predictably pushed in to get a spot too. Dinah didn't miss the slight surprise on Severus's face when her mother said she loved them both, though. Of course, she had told him her parents loved him but hearing it firsthand was obviously even more meaningful. She managed to reach over and take his hand around Aunt Mildred.

"We do; have a safe trip," Ed added.

"We will, and we love you, too," Dinah said, squeezing Severus's hand as he simply gave her parents a brief nod. It was obviously a little too soon for him to start saying the words back, but she was sure her parents understood that.

"Well!" Aunt Mildred heaved a sigh, turning from the baby to Severus and extending her hand again for a shake, "It was fun."

Severus frowned at her, opened his mouth, closed it, frowned some more, and then opened it again, saying slowly, "Aunt Mildred… if you _promise _not to be too enthusiastic, I suppose… it would be all right if…" he trailed, smirking and not finishing his sentence, looking at Dinah's aunt as though waiting for her to get the message.

He did not have to wait long. Her eyes lit up and she launched herself at him in a hug that, to her credit, was tamer than the ones she usually gave but still quite boisterous. Severus winced a little from the impact but held his ground. Though, Dinah suspected that by giving her this one permission he had lost out on the handshake option for the rest of his life. Oh well, he would have to deal.

Still, it warmed her heart yet again to see how her hard her husband tried to open up to her family. She knew he did like them, but he liked Lucy too and he was giving her family a lot more privileges than he gave Lucy, or Rosa and Luke for that matter, at this point. Dinah knew it was because of her that he made the extra effort; because he loved her so much.

After bidding final farewells to her family, they headed out onto the streets of residential London to try and find a quiet, unassuming spot to apparate to Rosa's house from. Dinah kept her fingers firmly entwined with her husband's and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked, "That was nice."

"It was satisfactory," he admitted, his lips twitching in a smile, "Though I would feel a good deal more comfortable if you would assure me that Aunt Mildred strangling the baby to death once it is born is an impossibility."

Dinah had to giggle at that, squeezing his hand, "Oh, I'm sure it is. Don't worry. You know, Christmas next year with a little baby is going to be so… different. But wonderful."

"Hm. Different but wonderful. That explains the last year to this year transition as well, does it not?"

She smiled, "You're right. It does. No matter how things change, if we're together, everything is wonderful, right?"

"My Dinah," he murmured, pressing his lips to her hair as her heart fluttered, "Yes. Everything is always wonderful when we're together."

And with that beautiful sentiment, they stopped in a little alcove and Apparated to their next destination.

* * *

><p><em>My children are not yet old enough to attend Hogwarts but I now find myself questioning if I'll send them there at all. I am seriously considering home-schooling or perhaps sending them to Beauxbatons rather than have them attend an institution that supports the employment of persons such as yourself. <em>

_Having a parselmouth teach at the school was bad enough, but this...I've been lucky enough to read an advanced copy of the Daily Prophet and I can honestly say that I do not wish my children to be exposed to a person who has so little self-control, physically, mentally, and emotionally. _

_Do yourself a favor and leave your post. Don't force our Headmistress to go through the indignity of having to sack you and have you removed from the grounds. You might consider taking the parselmouth with you, though she troubles me far less than your…issues. I will not have my children taught in a school where you teach in any capacity. I'm sure others feel the same._

_ A Concerned Parent_

"Lucy, your blood pressure just jumped," Madam Pomfrey said, not sounding happy at all, "I suggest you stop reading your mail during my examination."

"Just one more letter," Lucy said, distracted. That letter had thrown her for a loop. She'd really thought things were starting to get better and then this…

_I told you this wasn't going to go away. I warned you. Things are only going to get worse if you don't leave the school and allow me to help you. If you won't do it for yourself at least do it for the child of that murderer you claim to love. I'm ready to help you whenever you decide to accept the fact that you need it._

The second letter wasn't signed but she knew who it was from all the same. Henley… wanted to help her but… the last time he'd 'helped' she had ended up shut away from the world and anyone who cared about her. She didn't want that kind of help. Then again…

"_Lucy_," Poppy scolded again, "leave those letters be! You need to go back to your rooms and relax."

"I _can't_," she insisted, "I've been prohibited from my quickest form of relaxation and walking takes so much energy anymore. It makes my feet hurt and my back hurt and…"

"I know," Poppy said, "but you need to do your best to stay as calm as possible. You're just at thirty weeks. If the baby were to come now…"

"It wouldn't be good. I know," she sighed, hopping off the bed, "Everything else okay? I'm free to go?"

"Yes, as long as you _try_ to stay calm. Leave those letters for your husband to read if they're upsetting you that much."

"Yes, ma'am," she said, marching out of the hospital wing. On the way down the first flight of stairs she met Dinah coming up. "Dinah!" she shouted, startling the other woman, "Dinner? Tonight?"

"Uh..." Dinah, still a little thrown for a loop, scratched her head, "Yeah, they're serving dinner tonight..."

"No," she whined, frustrated, "Dinner in our rooms tonight? Did you want to come over? Severus too."

"Oh!" Dinah blushed, sheepish, "I'm sorry, I wasn't sure what you meant. Of course, we'd love to come. Is everything all right?" she frowned, finally catching on to Lucy's odd behavior.

"Letters," Lucy muttered, holding out the letter from the 'concerned parent' out to her friend, "Go ahead and read it. They talk about you a little bit too."

Dinah's eyes went wide and she took the letter, unfolding it and beginning to skim its contents. As her eyes wandered down the page they widened, and then narrowed, and then widened again, and then darkened, her face taking on an angry frown. Finally, she threw it down to the floor and shouted, "This is unbelievable! Horrible! How can they say those things about you? Merlin, you haven't even _done_ anything, that unreasonable nasty piece of work! These days it's not so unusual for people to have babies before they marry, don't they know that? I'm so sick of this primitive society of ours! It's ridiculous! And _everyone_ has sex before marriage these days, too! Absolutely everyone! We're already in the twenty-first century as of yesterday! Why won't anyone act like it?" she had to stop her rant to catch her breath.

Lucy shocked her friend again when she launched herself at her, hugging her as best she could with their babies in the way. "Thank you," she sniffled, "Most parents haven't been that bad, at least since the shock of it wore off but..."

"You're welcome," Dinah murmured, returning the hug, "Just promise me you won't listen to them and you won't leave."

"I promise," she said, "I should go… relax, Poppy's orders. You going up for an appointment?"

"Yes, I was - oh," Dinah winced and leaned forward a little, her hand moving to clutch at her side.

"Are you okay? Do you need some help?" Lucy asked, worried for her friend.

"I..." she took a couple deep breaths, "think I'm fine. Just an early contraction or a cramp or something. I guess I should try to refrain from going into long rants like that until the baby's born," she grinned.

"Okay…" she said, wary after her earlier experience with preterm labor, "You don't need help the rest of the way? Should I tell Severus? I've been ordered to relax myself but I'm sure Poppy will make an exception…"

"He's working on lesson plans; I'll tell him when I get back. If you don't mind walking with me the rest of the way up the stairs that would be nice, but you don't have to."

"It's fine," she assured Dinah, "It's not that far really. I don't have anything to do back in our rooms except think."

"Thanks," Dinah smiled, beginning to climb, "Have you shown that to Sirius or Minerva yet?"

"Not yet," she said, waving her wand to bring the letter back up into her hands, "I just got them a little bit ago."

"I wonder what _Daily Prophet_ article they were talking about... they said 'Daily' and not 'Evening' so presumably tomorrow morning we'll know."

"I'm not sure I want to know," she murmured, "Oh! Hey," she said, perking up, "I just realized if you come to dinner you can see the nursery!"

"Oh! That's wonderful," Dinah smiled, "We added in an extra room when we got back but we haven't put anything in it yet. Maybe seeing yours will give us some ideas for how to decorate."

Lucy giggled, as they reached the hospital wing doors, " Maybe. You'll be okay from here?"

"Yes," she smiled, "Thanks. Now you go relax. I bet Madam Pomfrey will tell me to do the same after this, too."

"Perhaps," she grinned, "just try not to read any aggravating letters during your appointment."


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

"How'd the appointment go?" Sirius asked. She knew he couldn't have been back in their rooms long or he would have come and met her in the hospital wing. He'd been having another one of his 'secret meetings' with Minerva that morning.

"Fine," she told him, "I saw Dinah on the way out. They're coming to dinner. I got these letters," she confessed, handing him the letters, "It made my blood pressure go up apparently. I've been ordered back here to relax."

Sirius took both of the letters and read them slowly, crushing them in his hands when he was done. "Tell me you're not taking these seriously?"

"Well, no, not really. I mean the one's not anything terribly different than I was getting earlier… but Henley… he says he wants to help."

"Lucy," Sirius sighed, coming over to where she had sat on the couch, "don't. You know he doesn't mean it like that. He's only using your emotions against you, to make it so you're not a problem for him."

"I know," she admitted, snuggling against Sirius when he sat down next to her, encircling her in his arms, "but I want to believe him. I want to think he's got good intentions. He doesn't. I didn't show Dinah his letter. She was so annoyed by the first letter it gave her some contractions or something. She said they went away though…"

"I don't think she'd lie about it but if you're worried I can go find out if everything's okay."

"No, no. I'm sure if it wasn't Dinah or Severus would send word. I just want to nap right now. Here. With you."

* * *

><p>Lucy sat at the table looking at the dinner that had just been delivered to their rooms. She bit her lip and began tapping her foot.<p>

"We can send it back you know," Sirius told her.

"No," she said firmly, "You and Severus might want some."

"All right, but we'll still have to ask them to send something else up for you and Dinah," Sirius told her as he went to answer the knock on the door.

Lucy went back to resisting the food sitting in front of her when Sirius opened the door.

"Come on in," Sirius told their guests, "They just sent dinner up."

Dinah frowned, looking at Lucy, who was tapping her foot and chewing her lip again, "What is she doing?"

"Trying not to eat the food. They sent up some kind of pâté along with soft cheeses and crackers for an appetizer."

"Oh," Dinah looked very disappointed, probably because she was being banned from foods. She generally looked that way every time a new thing she couldn't eat was added to the list. "Well, but it's just the appetizer, right? What about the meal?"

"Roast beef covered in a béarnaise sauce," Lucy growled from the table.

"We woke up a little hormonal after our nap," Sirius whispered, trying to warn the other couple.

"Screw this, I'm eating the pâté," Dinah was practically drooling as she tossed aside all of the warnings and made for the table.

"Hold it," Severus grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Exactly where do you think you are going?"

"This is ridiculous!" Lucy exploded, shoving herself away from the table a little more forcefully than she'd intended, causing the drinks to dribble over the edge. "I don't _want_ to send the food back. I _want_ to eat it."

"Lu, I know you're uncomfortable but…"

"No, you _don't _know," Lucy told him, switching from angry to weepy in moments. "You can eat whatever you want. You aren't tired _all_ the time. You didn't throw up for three months. Your back doesn't ache from standing all day. _You_ weren't banned from sex and all the wonderful relaxation and goodness that goes with it."

"Lucy," he told her calmly, "if you're tired come back here and take a nap like you did today. Ginny can handle a teaching a class or two. If your back aches, tell me and I'll massage it for you."

She growled again, not even bothering to try and be quiet about saying, "Merlin, I'm so frustrated. I just want to have sex! I miss sex."

Severus cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed as he faced Lucy. "I hate to point this out in your current state, but... Sirius _was_ banned from sex as well."

"Oh no, he wasn't. We're allowed to do things where _he's _satisfied. And if he wanted to get in real trouble he could technically have sex with someone besides me."

"Perhaps he doesn't _want_ to... with someone besides you," Severus muttered, balking at addressing the act specifically, "I can only imagine..." he gave his wife a discreet glance and she blushed a little.

Dinah giggled. "It seems doing things where they're satisfied isn't as satisfying as... well, the whole thing," she cleared her throat and nodded back towards the table. "Anyway, you really want to eat pate? I thought you didn't even like it."

"Yes!" Lucy groaned, "It's probably the baby!"

"Honey, come here," Sirius said, using a rare endearment, pulling Lucy over to him and turning her to face away from him.

When he began rubbing his fingers in little circles on her lower back she groaned, "Oh, God, that's good."

"Oh, I need food!" Dinah moaned a little herself, bolting over to the table upon hearing Lucy's groan.

Severus sighed and shook his head, "And my wife's usual focus is food," he followed her over to the table, taking a knife spread with pate out of her fingers and stuffing a cracker into her mouth with a sharp order of, "No pate, no roast beef."

"Where did you learn this?" Lucy asked, apparently ignoring their guests.

Sirius grinned and winked at Severus. "James. Lily's back bothered her a lot too. Now," he said, stopping and turning Lucy back to facing him, "we're going to send down for something you and Dinah can eat. What do you two want?"

"Don't you know that that's a loaded question?" Severus demanded, covering Dinah's mouth before she could say anything.

Sirius just grinned. He was happy to indulge his wife in all manner of foods if it made her happy, within reason of course.

"Nachos!" Lucy shouted, "and steak, and chips, and oh, _apple pie_." The last was said on a sigh.

"And Chinese food!" Dinah suddenly shouted, her mouth apparently free from Severus.

"No..._ biting_ me," her husband growled at her, holding one hand in the other, an expression of mild pain on his face.

Lucy giggled, apparently in a better mood now that her back was no longer bothering her, "Are you sure? Sirius enjoys it when I—"

"Biting and nibbling are two different things," Sirius interrupted.

"Indeed," Severus agreed, meeting Dinah's gaze with a pointed stare.

She managed to look sheepish and laughed; "Sorry. Food took priority. It does do that from time to time, you know time to time, you know. At least we're permitted to do things they can't do."

"Stupid preterm labor," Lucy muttered. "I think you should know," she said to Sirius, "I've already decided we're not doing any of that long walks, spicy foods bring on labor crap. We're going straight for sex. Long walks will just make me tired and spicy foods are currently giving me nasty heartburn so sex is probably the best option anyway."

"I look forward to it," Sirius grinned.

"Have we come to the end of this subject yet?" Severus grumbled, shoving another cracker at his wife when her eyes started to drift to the roast beef.

Lucy giggled, apparently feeling much better after her outburst and massage, "Likely not but your wife and I can discuss it later. Now would you two like to see our mostly finished nursery?"

"Oh, let's!" Dinah clapped her hands together, "But _somebody's_ got to order more food from the house elves' first, so when we get back it'll be ready!"

"I'll take care of it," Sirius offered, "You wanted nachos and Chinese food right?"

"And apple pie!" Lucy ordered.

"And steak and chips," Dinah added, frowning, "Was that all or are we forgetting something? You know, a nice salad might be good, too."

"Oooh a salad! Yes! With plenty of tomatoes!" Lucy agreed.

"Anything else?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well... maybe some ice cream and sprinkles to go with the pie. And caramel sauce. That's it," Dinah decided.

Sirius grinned and turned to look at Lucy.

"And chocolate sauce."

He sent down the order quickly before the two pregnant women could add anything else to the list, "And now Lucy can lead us to the nursery."

* * *

><p>Lucy led them to a relatively new door not too far from their bedroom. With wizard space they'd been able to add the nursery into the suite of rooms without too much trouble. She opened the door, letting Dinah and Severus enter ahead of her. She knew what the nursery looked like without having to see it.<p>

"Oh, it's so nice," Dinah gushed.

The cot from Molly and Arthur was against the far wall, across from a door that led in to the main bedroom, the blanket from Dinah's parents draped over the front side of the cot. Her big, comfy chair sat next to the window, the little nightstand from Dinah and Severus sitting next to it. A child size chest of drawers and a changing table on the wall with the door between the bedrooms. It wasn't completely done yet, there were clothes to be sorted and washed, but Lucy felt she'd achieved the calm and light atmosphere she'd wanted.

"I know some of the stuff from your family isn't out…the pram's over there," she pointed to one corner, "and the books from Rosa and everyone will go in a bookshelf once we get that put together. I… didn't know what to do with the car seat," Lucy confessed to her friend. She didn't want her to think that she didn't appreciate her family's gifts after all.

Dinah smiled, "It's fine. Those aren't normally displayed in rooms anyway they stay permanently in cars. Since you don't have a car of your own, of course you can just store it until you come visit us and need to use it."

"Oh, good! I felt bad but I really didn't know what to do with it. Would you like to sit in the chair? You should sit in the chair. It is the most comfortable place in the world."

Dinah laughed, "If I sit down I'll never get up."

"Indeed," Severus smirked as his wife wandered over to sink into the chair, letting out a blissful sigh when she was in.

"But isn't it so worth it?" Lucy grinned, "Sirius shops for furniture well."

"Even the bed at Hogsmeade House?" he teased.

"Yes," she asserted, "I adore that bed."

"And the subject returns as promised," Severus sighed.

Lucy laughed, "I only meant that I like the _style_ of the bed. One was not… and I'll just stop there," she blushed.

"Good idea," Dinah grinned when Severus sighed again, her eyes still closed, "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when the food arrives."

"See?" Sirius grinned, "Dinah's got the right idea. When you're tired, sleep."

"But Dinah's almost done being pregnant. I've got weeks and weeks," Lucy complained.

"Just four more than me," Dinah mumbled, "And you'll be able to share those weeks with a cute little baby, too."

Lucy smirked, "That's true and you'll be on leave then too. Are you going to be going on leave before the baby comes or working as long as you can?" she asked, sitting on the ottoman.

"Probably work as long as I can, to help make sure Hermione's ready to take over," she admitted, ignoring Severus's usual muttering of 'Granger...' and continuing with a grin, opening her eyes to see Lucy, "Am I to expect your constant company while I _am_ on leave?"

"I don't know. Likely not constant seeing as _I_ will still be working. I intend to keep working until Poppy orders me not to."

"All right, ladies. Time to get up. I've got a feeling dinner's here and ready to be eaten," Sirius said, pulling Lucy up off the ottoman.

Dinah's eyes went wide and she appeared to try to make a flying leap out of the chair only to collapse back into it again with a whine.

Severus heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes, "You cannot keep doing that, it is not good for the baby." He walked over and held a hand out for her to help her up.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, flushing as she took his hand, "It's just that food sounded so good."

"I agree. Let's go," she said, tugging Sirius out of the room and straight to the table. All the horribly tempting things that she couldn't eat were still there but so were the nachos, the Chinese food, the salad (with plenty of little grape tomatoes), steak, chips, and apple pie with all the fixings. "Oh, Dinah! Hurry up! It's beautiful!"

"Ah!" Dinah gave a little shriek from where she stood in the doorway, beholding the huge spread and almost looking ready to weep for joy, "I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life!"

"She gets it from your wife," Sirius accused, staring at Severus, "Lu never used to talk like this about food before."

Severus snorted, "Yes? Well, my wife never used to be this emotional until she met yours."

"Oh, now, you two," Dinah scolded, coming to sit down and pile her plate with nachos, "I think pregnancy is the culprit for both, let's not blame each other."

"Really. They act like children," Lucy said, joining Dinah in making a mountain of nachos on her plate. Now you two sit down so I can ask the Snapes how their visit with the family went."

"It went... as well as could be expected," Severus drolled, sitting down next to his wife and helping himself to some Lo Mein.

"That's lovely," Lucy grinned, "We got drilled over baby names and Fred and Katie got engaged."

"Oh! One of your cousins?" Dinah asked with a mouthful of nachos while Severus rolled his eyes, "The twin who got the rebirth? That's so wonderful, and Katie seemed like such a nice girl at the hen party. How good for them."

"It was nice," Lucy agreed, "but not how I would want to be proposed to. Still they seem happy and that's all that matters."

"Oh? How did he propose?" Dinah asked, dipping one of her chips in her nacho fixings.

"Gathered the whole family around before he gave her a little wrapped up box. Of course he came out with how he wants a marriage and kids with her and will she marry him before she even opened the box. They're so happy," Lucy smiled, stealing some of the tomatoes from the salad and popping them in her mouth.

"How nice. But I can see how the public proposal could be nerve-wracking," Dinah agreed, now choosing to cut up her steak and mix the little pieces into her nachos.

"Yes, exactly," she said, biting into a nacho crisp loaded with all the trimmings, "It worked for them though and I suppose that's all that matters. How are Rosa and Luke? Oh, and your cousin Larry? No girlfriend yet?"

Severus gave an amused smirk as Dinah chuckled and answered, "No, not yet. And that's when Uncle Winston's the most vocal... when he complains about Larry still living in his house."

Lucy grinned, "Well, he might have more success in the girlfriend department if he did move out but that's Larry's decision. Maybe he's trying to find the one who doesn't run away upon meeting Aunt Mildred."

Dinah burst into giggles, nodding as she simultaneously spooned a mound of fried rice right on top of her nachos with her left hand and used her wand to drench her salad in dressing with her right, "That's a good point, of course. Heck, she's not even my mother and she's nearly made Sev run away on multiple occasions."

"That's quite a stretch. I would never run," Severus assured her, but seemed to know she was just making a joke.

"No," Lucy agreed, "he'd fly."

He raised an eyebrow at her, opening his mouth to retort something but distracted as Dinah raised a fried rice, steak, and normal topping-clad nacho crisp towards her mouth, "No. You are _not_ actually going to eat that!" He grimaced when his wife crunched right into the oddly-topped morsel.

"Don't make that face," Lucy scolded, "women eat all sorts of weird things when they're pregnant. It's you men who've caused all these stupid hormones that make us do crazy things."

"I am not going to comment on that," he growled.

"Likely wise," Dinah smiled, holding one out to him, "Try it, it's actually good."

"Never."

"Sirius'll try it," Lucy volunteered, "He's eaten rats, or well, Snuffles ate rats but it's really like the same thing."

"No, I don't think so," Sirius said, eating his portion of roast beef and béarnaise sauce that he'd had the house elves leave.

"Well, this is much better than rats either way. I bet dogs would like it better than rats, too," Dinah declared, offering Sirius the crisp instead.

Sirius politely accepted the crisp, though he looked less than thrilled with it, and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth at once. He frowned, "That's… interesting."

"See?" Dinah beamed, "It's tasty. And that was _so_ sweet of you, agreeing to take a bite for me, Sirius."

Severus let out a low growl and snatched a crisp, "Give me one!" he ate it, chewed, and swallowed with another grimace, "Delicious."

"Oh, those two," Dinah told Lucy, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

They continued on like this, Lucy's little outburst forgotten, for the rest of the meal. Near the end of their dinner Dinah presented Lucy and Sirius with a nice collection of books that suited both their interests. "These are just wonderful, Dinah! You'll have to thank your parents for us," Lucy insisted, "That reminds me… I don't know why but it does. Anyway, did Poppy say everything was fine earlier?"

"Mm," Dinah smiled, "I just should probably stop screaming about things, that's all."

"It was well earned I think," Sirius snorted and turned to Severus, "Did she tell you about the letters?"

"Letters?" he raised an eyebrow, "I heard about the complaint letter but no others."

Lucy kicked him under the table and Sirius jerked a little but still pulled out his wand and summoned both letters to him, handing them over to Severus. "One from a parent. One from Henley."

"He wants to help," Lucy said, softly, reverting back to her original thoughts on the matter.

Severus gave a sneer as he took the letters, promptly discarding one right away, "I have no need of reading the parent's complaint. As for this..." he briefly skimmed the letter from Henley before shoving it at Dinah to read and fixing Lucy with a glare, "Define his 'help'."

"I know what he means, Severus," Lucy was forced to admit, "He means to hide me, shove me into a corner and lock me up so I don't make him look a fool in his little circle of scholars. But he's never _offered_ before. He mentions the baby…"

Dinah sighed sadly and put the letter down, "What does offering or mentioning do if the result is the same?"

"Nothing," Lucy said, shaking her head, "but if you were in my shoes wouldn't you want to believe him, just for a moment, knowing it was all pretend?"

"Hmm," Dinah sighed, staring down at the table, "Yeah. Yeah, I would. But I wouldn't let that part of me take over. I mean, I think so... I'm not... I've never had any of the family problems the rest of you have had. I feel sort of... guilty?" she shrugged, giving a little, uncomfortable laugh.

"Don't feel guilty, Dinah, be grateful," Lucy insisted, "And don't worry. I wouldn't do anything so stupid as seek him out, not really."

"Good," Severus said to Lucy, before turning to his wife and resting a gentle hand on her back, "And she's right. It is no fault of your own that our families were less than ideal, and you should not feel any guilt. Besides, if your family were not the way it was we couldn't have had such a pleasant Christmas with them this year."

"Or such a lovely baby shower," Lucy added, "Really. It's very nice of you to share them all with us."

Dinah finally managed a smile, leaning her head on Severus's shoulder, "I'm happy to," she told Lucy.

She just smiled and nodded, "So, who's ready for start of term? Classes are starting up again tomorrow. Which reminds me. Shouldn't Hermione be here? I haven't seen her yet."

"I think she's arriving later this evening. We're going to meet during breakfast tomorrow. Have it in my office," Dinah explained.

"Ah, good. Gin'll be arriving in a couple weeks. She wanted to do a spot of training with her team first and I don't anticipate needing her quite yet."

"Mm. I could need Hermione at any time," Dinah chuckled, resting a hand on her abdomen.

"Not for a couple more weeks yet I hope," Sirius said, "I might need your help killing whoever wrote this supposed article _and_ soothing my wife, who, as we know, can experience some rather intense mood swings."

"I do not!" Lucy protested, annoyed that he would even suggest such a thing.

"Oh. Well," Dinah said, hiding a smile, "Either way, I equally hope that this little one holds out until the due date."

"You and me both," Lucy said, running a hand over her own stomach.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Knowing that an article was going to be arriving, profiling her, Lucy had decided to stay in her rooms for breakfast. Right on time an owl flew through the room, dropping its _Daily Prophet_ and holding its leg out for payment. She stuffed a coin into the owl's pouch and looked down at the paper as it flew off. There it was. On the front page. The headline by Rita Skeeter.

_Hogwarts: A Place to Hide the Unbalanced?_

Unbalanced? Rita Skeeter thought she was unbalanced? If she ever got within striking distance of that woman she'd show her the meaning of that word.

_First Dumbledore. Then Severus Snape. Quirinus Quirrell. Gilderoy Lockhart. Remus Lupin. Mad-Eye Moody. Dolores Umbridge. Severus Snape. Amycus and Alecto Carrow. Sybill Trelawney. Rubeus Hagrid and Dinah Snape. Those of my readers not in the know might think this is a list of past Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. Not so. This is simply a list of some those professors employed at Hogwarts, mostly by Dumbledore himself; many of them sacked because of their lack of mental stability. Many not adequate role models for our children. They pale in comparison to the newest member on the list. Professor Lucy Black._

_This reporter has learned, through various sources, that it was around five years ago that the subject of our tale left a promising and very lucrative career as an Auror because she 'did not agree with the Ministry's policies'. It was at this time that Dumbledore contacted the young, unemployed witch and coerced her into joining his Order of the Phoenix. It seems Miss Ketteridge, as she was then known, possessed the skills of an Auror but the freedom to move about Europe that others did not, given her recent separation with the Ministry._

_Consequently she was frequently at the Order's headquarters where she fell into a rather intense relationship with one Sirius Black. When the convicted murderer and Azkaban escapee was killed in the Department of Mysteries Miss Ketteridge became non-responsive and friends and family were forced to place her in the ward in St. Mungo's which deals with these sorts of mental disturbances. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, she was released after seven months of treatment._

_Not much is known about Mrs. Black's comings and goings between then and the end of the war. What we do know is this: It was her alone that was present in the Great Hall the night of the rebirths of several killed in the second Wizarding War. She quickly moved back in with Sirius Black when his revival was revealed. After becoming employed as Literature Professor at Hogwarts, she quickly befriended the parselmouth Mrs. Dinah Snape. It is reported that she heard voices multiple times and even suffered one or two mental breaks. If this wasn't disturbing enough she wed Sirius Black this past summer in a rather quick manner only to reveal a pregnancy that had to have occurred long before the marriage._

_She has now entrenched herself within the castle and is refusing to accept help or be removed from her post. Those in charge of the school are equally unwilling to be rid of the professor and the Board of Governors has been slow to investigate these charges. All of this makes one wonder if the ordinary population should not rise up and oust many of the clearly disturbed instructors working in the school and demand a more thorough screening process for any who wish to fill the soon-to-be-vacant posts._

This was… bad. Not good. Horrible. Unpleasant. What did she do? Did she crawl back into bed and hide as she now wished to or did she go out and face the students?

"Lucy," Sirius murmured, having taken the paper from her numb hands and skimmed it while she sat there, stupefied. "Don't let her win. Don't let _him_ win. Go to class, prove to them you're not what they say."

"But…" she rubbed a hand over One, having felt the smallest of twinges, "But nothing she said there was false. I _did_ hear voices last year. I did quit. I was admitted to St. Mungo's. Those things _are_ true."

Sirius moved so that he rested a hand over their child as well. Perhaps he worried she'd have to be rushed to the hospital wing again. "So? None of those things happened because you have a 'mental disturbance'. You didn't do any dark magic to bring the revivals about like Skeeter implied. You have done nothing wrong."

"I know…"

"Go to class," he encouraged, "The students love you. They're in your class because they _want _to be. And besides I'm sure Dinah, Severus, and Hermione are all ready on the attack. Severus especially. You did notice she attacked him as well? And Dinah?"

"Yes," she murmured, not thinking about that. She stood, ready to face her fifth years… or she thought she was anyway.

Sirius grinned at her, "Time for class, eh? Do try to take it easy."

* * *

><p>She saw no one but her students until lunch. Thankfully, Lucy had only felt that one initial twinge after reading the article and though the students had indeed read the paper that morning, none of them seemed affected by the accusations. Agrona, Derwent, and Amedeus even come to insist that they didn't believe a word of what 'that Skeeter woman wrote'.<p>

"Look who's coming," Sirius said, sitting beside her and nudging her with his elbow.

Lucy turned her head to see Severus stalking towards their end of the table, an annoyed looking Dinah not far behind him.

"I assume you've seen this morning's monstrosity," Severus growled, but managed to hold a finger out in front of his wife's face when she drew in a breath to make complaint. She sighed and shut up, her shoulders relaxing, at his gesture.

"Yes," Lucy sighed, "but Severus… it's all true. She didn't write anything false."

Dinah shook her head vehemently, "It's the _way_ that she writes it, Lucy, and you know it. That horrible child Septimus Peaks was ranting and raving in my class all day, though your friends Jania and Tad did try to shut him up."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "It takes a good deal for my wife to call a student a 'horrible child', you know."

One corner of Lucy's lips quirked up, "Yes, I'm aware. I just… I _know_ it's the way she writes her articles, but… there's not much I can say to dispute what she wrote. It's true. I did do those things."

"But those things weren't _wrong_!" Dinah exclaimed, looking huffy again until Severus put a firm hand on her shoulder and shushed her.

"It doesn't matter," Lucy murmured, cradling her unborn baby in her arms, "It doesn't matter what was. The only thing that makes a difference is what people believe and they believe _her_. The Board's going to be pressing for a hearing even harder now I'm sure…"

Sirius wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. "Everything's going to be fine."

"Stop it!" Dinah shouted, despite Severus's earlier attempts to calm her down. When Lucy looked up she saw tears in her friend's eyes, "You can't just sit there and say it's all okay, you just can't! You have to _fight_, Lucy! You can't give up! At first I thought because you weren't getting emotional you were getting better but now you just won't do anything at all? If I had just given up when the parseltongue thing came out where do you think we'd be right now? I went to the interviews, I made my case, I fought for myself, even though I was scared. You can do the same! You're strong! Why can't you see it? Why?" she turned and stormed out of the Great Hall, as some students looked up at the commotion.

Severus turned and reached to try and stop her but she was too fast for him. Instead, he turned to fix Lucy with a glare, "You have made my wife upset again. Thank you. Good day," he stormed off after Dinah.

"I didn't mean too," Lucy whispered, doing her best not to break down in front of everyone in the Great Hall. "I don't know how to do what she wants. I don't know how to fix this. Everyone thought you killed Peter Pettigrew. It didn't matter that you didn't, only that everyone thought you did…" she broke off with a wince, those twinges from earlier coming back, sharper this time.

"Lucy are you okay?" Sirius asked, concern in his voice.

While her husband spirited her out of the Great Hall to the stares and whispers of all the students present, Lucy kept up a constant stream of mutterings. Most contained words like, "She's really mad at me this time. What if she hates me? She can't hate me. She can't. None of that has to be true. People just have to believe it. Don't you see? It didn't _matter_ that Remus was a good teacher, that the students loved him, that he hadn't hurt anyone. The only thing people cared about was that he was… is a werewolf."

When they finally made it to the hospital wing Lucy only calmed down when Poppy forced a sedative potion down her throat and a promise from her husband that he would find someone to run her last two classes of the day or do it himself if he had too.

* * *

><p>It was dinner time and rather than go up to the hospital wing like he wanted, he did what he knew he had to do and went to the Great Hall. When he spotted them he walked straight over, much like they had at lunch mere hours ago. "Can we talk? In private?"<p>

Rather than looking angry, the two just looked exhausted. Dinah looked particularly ragged, her eyes red-rimmed as she just poked at her food and didn't meet his gaze, "Sure, I guess..." she murmured, still poking with her fork.

Severus's gaze watched her, but he didn't even suggest an appetite stimulant, and he only managed a brief glance and shrug in Sirius's direction as he replied, "If we must."

Sirius felt some of the anger, the part that had been directed at them, leave him. They didn't look like happy people. He silently led them to a small, empty room just off the Great Hall, conjuring a chair for Dinah if she wished to use it. "I'm not saying you were wrong. Lucy _should_ be fighting. The Lucy I knew when I first met her would have been. But has it occurred to either of you that nobody's _asked_ her for anything. No one asked her to give an interview. The Board isn't asking for a meeting with her… well they are but it's more of an order disguised as a question."

"She could ask for one. She could try to get one," Dinah sniffled, and seemed to be fighting to draw her knees up to her chest while Severus put a hand on her lap and shook his head as though to tell her she couldn't. But she wasn't paying much attention to him, "I just can't stand to see her sit there and... and... where..." a quizzical expression suddenly formed on Dinah's face as she looked up at him and sniffled again, "Where is she?"

"Um… well, don't feel bad. This was bound to happen ever since that article showed up this morning I think. It was just a matter of time. She's… in the hospital wing. Sleeping if Madam Pomfrey's managed to keep that potion in her. She refused to take it until I promised to find someone to take over the rest of her classes for the day. _I_ ended up teaching them and that Peaks kid is lucky he chose to skip today. I'm her husband. I'm supposed to protect her but…" he shook his head.

"Peaks is... incorrigible," Severus sighed, frowning and looking a bit guilty.

Dinah just gaped at him, her eyes welling up, and she didn't seem to take his order to not feel bad to heart at all as she whispered, "She's... in the hospital wing? Because of me? It's my fault she's sick," her head dropped forward and she began to cry, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean... I wasn't trying to... I only... ah!" her hand moved to clutch at her side as she winced, "I'm - I'm - ow!" another wince.

"Not because of you," Sirius insisted, glancing over at Severus. If this was his own wife they'd be up in the hospital wing right away but this wasn't Lucy. This was Dinah. "She's just lost. She doesn't know how to fix any of this. That's what she kept saying. I think she's still that kid who's been left to muddle her way through things because her mum's died, her father doesn't care, and her aunt and uncle are too far away to do anything and aren't even aware of half of what's going on. She's trying to do what she thinks we want her to but she's scared."

"But I ruined it," Dinah whimpered, "I just wanted her to be strong because I... because I want her to be... I... just..." she was now speaking through winces and gasping breaths as she clutched her side tighter.

Finally, Severus intervened, "That's it, Dinah. We are taking you to the hospital wing. I should have when this happened earlier but when you promised to relax I..."

"No!" Dinah protested, looking up him with a pleading, teary gaze, "No, don't make me! I don't want to! I'm not having preterm labor! She can't make me not have sex!"

Sirius had to snort at that, "I think that's really a case by case decision, Dinah. Severus is right though, we should probably take you up just in case. You can visit Lucy. I'm sure she'd like that. Assure her you're not mad at her. Maybe suggest she talk to that reporter friend of yours. I'm going up there anyway."

"Okay," Dinah agreed, sniffling again as she allowed Severus to help her up from the chair, "I still don't want to go. I don't know... what to say to her... now."

"Dinah," Sirius tried again, "It's not your fault. She was acting off all morning. I hoped she'd settle down on her own. I should have known better. She _is_ trying though. She's willing to talk to the Board of Governors, we just haven't settled on a date."

Dinah nodded, staring down at the floor as they made their way upstairs and then entered the hospital wing.

"Dinah!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed as soon as they walked in the door, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the hand Dinah had clutched to her side, "What did I tell you about getting excited? The last thing I need is _two_ sick pregnant women on my hands this time of year. What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Dinah muttered, her eyes still locked on the floor, "I just want to go home, let me go home."

"Dinah?" Lucy's sleep-muddled voice came from behind the dividing curtain Poppy had put up around her bed.

At Lucy's voice Dinah blanched and took a step back, nearly bowling Severus over, "I can't! I'm scared! I don't know what to say! I'm fine! Let me go home! I'm fine - ow! Ah! Owww," she moaned, clutching her side.

"Nothing doing, and you certainly aren't fine!" Poppy exclaimed, grabbing her free arm and pulling her towards that curtain and the bed next to it, Severus following close behind them, "Now, sit down and take some deep breaths. Severus, please help try to calm her while I get some tools to make my examination."

"Mm," Severus agreed, trying to get Dinah to sit down as she struggled and kept shaking her head in protest.

"Dinah it's fine," Sirius said, peeking his head around the curtain to see his wife, curled up and snoring softly, "She fell back to sleep."

"Okay..." Dinah finally consented to let Severus help her onto the bed so she was sitting flat against the headboard, but she didn't look very relaxed despite the breaths her husband forced her to take.

"She's not mad, you know," Sirius said, "She thinks you're mad at her and maybe you were in a way but we both know you'd never want anything to happen to her. She overreacts and is quick to think people are mad at her or don't like her but…" he shrugged.

"But she shouldn't feel that way. Why would she ever think that I-?"

"Now, now, if I'm overhearing correctly, perhaps just talking to each other will alleviate some of the stress you both feel," Poppy said, arriving back and drawing the curtain from around Lucy's bed. Dinah turned to stare shyly at her abdomen while Poppy knelt over her and began her examination by feeling around, "Does it hurt there?"

"No, I - ow!" Dinah winced, gasping for air, "Yes!"

"Mmm," Lucy growled, shifting around and opening her eyes, "Dinah? What are you…? Why…?"

"Don't take her not finishing her thoughts personally," Sirius grinned, "She's still a little drugged."

Dinah nodded, looking shyly at Lucy and then away again, "I'm fine," she managed, but then winced again as Poppy began casting a few spells to continue her examination.

"Well," the healer finally sighed, a frown appearing on her face, "You seem to be cramping up a good deal. I _think_ it's mostly muscle cramps from the stress and the weight of the baby but a few of those might be contractions."

"I'm not having preterm labor!" Dinah protested again, looking upset. "I told you, I'm fine! Let me go home!"

"No, you're not," Lucy agreed, sitting up though she still rested her head against the wall as if it was too heavy for her neck. "But don't go home. Please? Poppy's making me stay tonight and I don't want to be alone."

Dinah turned a surprised gaze on her and sniffled as her eyes welled up again, "But... but I'm the one who did this to you. It's my fault you're in here. I'm so sorry," she whimpered, wiping her eyes.

"It's okay," Lucy mumbled, "It's not your fault. Stupid Skeeter woman… Henley…"

"But..." Dinah muttered, in this new position finally successful at drawing her knees up to her chest but smacking Poppy in the chin as she did so.

The healer sighed and shook her head, "I am going to _personally_ murder that Skeeter woman for endangering both of your health and causing me this world of trouble. Dinah, you are _not_ experiencing preterm labor, but you simply must stop getting upset and excited like that."

"Dinah knows a reporter that might be willing to help you," Sirius said, stroking Lucy's hair, "At least he does more balanced reporting, I'm told."

"Yeah," Dinah rushed out, not really relaxing as told, "I can call Alder. Can I call Alder? He can help, I know he can. He likes us, he'll do us a favor for you. I can call him..."

"Um, Dinah… I don't think Alder has a mobile. He's a _wizard_ reporter," Sirius reminded her.

She blushed, "Sorry..." she whispered, staring down at her lap, "That was stupid of me, wasn't it? I have no magical instincts. I'm just that odd, Muggle-loving parselmouth just like Rita says..." her fingers began to twiddle, "Maybe _I'm_ the one who-"

"No!" Severus, quiet for a long time, suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her hands and making her stop, "Dinah, do not do this. Don't regress," he murmured, tilting her face up to him and cupping her cheek, "Stop," he told her softly, "What happened to the girl who demanded to talk to Potter about why being a parselmouth is a good thing and that things needed to change? And who tried to convince Lucy to do the same thing?"

Finally, Dinah started to look okay. Her shoulders relaxed and she smiled, reaching up to cup his cheek in return, "And the boy who was by my side the whole time."

A smile formed on Severus's face and he nodded.

She took a deep breath and let her head fall against his chest, "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just... so tired."

"You both need some sleep," Madam Pomfrey insisted.

"No," Lucy shook her head, "I need to… do something. I just don't know what. I don't know how to fix this."

"I can call - owl Alder," Dinah said, "If you'll let me."

"If you wouldn't mind," Lucy accepted, looking shy, "I just… I don't know what to do. Where to start. How can I fight or fix things if I don't know where to start."

Dinah nodded, looking a little teary again, "I know. Lucy, I... I'm so sorry I went off on you without thinking or without explaining. I understand that... as Severus said, when I decided I wanted to tell the world about being a parselmouth I had decided. I had decided that I was ready on my own terms. The time and place got picked for me and so I had to improvise a little but at least I was prepared. You hadn't... yet... decided that you wanted to tell the world about your stay at St. Mungo's so it's harder for you. I'm sorry I didn't understand that."

"It's okay," Lucy said, looking more awake, "I don't think I'd ever _choose_ to do this. Friends and family fine but the whole world doesn't need to know. Still… it seems I have no choice in the matter so I suppose the best I can do is make sure the story gets told on my terms."

Dinah nodded, "That's all I wanted for you to do. I didn't like seeing you so... accepting of this, like it was all okay. It's not okay. No matter if it's true or not or if there's any way to make people listen it's _still_ not okay."

"But Dinah that's what I had to do my whole childhood," she shrugged, "I know you only met Henley the once but… it was just easier to accept what was then to try and change anything."

"But you were just a little girl," Dinah said softly, sniffling again and taking the handkerchief that Severus was holding out for her. Rather than use it she just rolled it up into a ball and began fiddling with it, "It's not like that anymore... you became an Auror, you tried to change things. Sirius said. You grew. Right?" She wasn't being especially coherent.

"Well… yeah. I guess, but I don't _feel_ different," Lucy frowned. Sirius looked over to Severus and a mutual understanding seemed to pass between them that they should let the women talk and not interrupt them.

"Sirius said that when he first met you, you would have fought. And I want you to fight. But not just for that reason. I... I told Severus..." Dinah began, drawing her knees back up to her chest and reaching around to hug and rest her chin on them, "Awhile ago, actually... I feel like ever since I've met you you've been sort of sad and broken. I want to know the happy Lucy."

"Oh," Lucy said, blinking as if this was an idea that was just occurring to her, "I… I didn't know. I guess this feels so much better than where I was that I… didn't know."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Dinah murmured, wiping her eyes with the handkerchief, "I don't mean to say you haven't improved. You have. Or that you're never happy. That's not it either. I just thought that it's not fair that you've never been able to relax since all that stuff happened to you. First Sirius's death, then St. Mungo's, then the stuff from last year, now this Henley and Rita Skeeter thing. You looked like you'd given up this afternoon and I don't want to see you give up. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," Lucy nodded, "It does seem that way sometimes, doesn't it? I guess I did sort of give up but only it feels so insurmountable at times. I mean did it matter that Severus wasn't an evil Death Eater spy? No. It only mattered that everyone thought he was. Sometimes it doesn't' matter whether or not you've done something. Once the idea's out there the damage has been done. You can't make it go away."

Dinah sighed, "Not with everyone, no. There are plenty of people who are still suspicious of me, and of Severus, _and_ of Sirius, and who always will be. Mae's friend Lisette Jorkins positively hates me; it's like she thinks I'm going to hex her every time I come near her. But the majority isn't like that. And as long as you can try to make things better, change some peoples' minds, it's worth it. You have to fight."

Lucy laughed at little, "Yeah, I suppose no matter what happens Septimus will never actually like me or my class. No matter how much his mother approves of me."

Dinah smiled, handing the handkerchief back to her husband, "See? And you can handle that, just like I can handle Lisette. It's unfortunate, but that's life I guess."

"Mmm," Lucy agreed.

"All right you two," Poppy said, returning to their besides with two vials of potions, "Take this. It'll help you sleep. I'd like you both to stay overnight for observation."

"Okay," Dinah, now compliant, took the vial from the healer's hands, "Sorry if we've caused any trouble."

"No trouble at all. That Rita Skeeter however…"

"Want me to stay?" Sirius asked, kissing his wife on the forehead.

"No, it's okay. Dinah's here and someone's got to check on the kittens."

"That's your job," Severus told him, kissing Dinah and standing up.

"They are one half yours you know," Sirius teased. He didn't really expect the man to help him check on Dora and Godric's kittens but Severus was going to pay for it by being messed with.

"They are one _third_ mine if anything," he retorted, reaching to take Dinah's hand, "I will check on you in the morning unless you would like me to stay."

"Mm," she shook her head, running her thumb over the back of his hand, "You work on your grading. Lucy and me and the babies will be just fine."

"Mmmhmm," Lucy agreed, already snuggled back down in bed, eyes closed. The previous potion probably hadn't left her system yet before she took this current dose so she was falling asleep much quicker than Dinah.

Sirius sighed and stood, "Hermione's offered to come over and help me grade some of Lucy's papers… assuming I don't get my face scratched to bits by an angry mother cat first."

"Careful with that," Dinah teased, rubbing her cheek against Severus's hand before letting him go and moving her hand instead to her growing abdomen, "We mothers can be... unpredictable."

"Just as long as this one doesn't give me any more trouble," Sirius teased, leaning over to kiss the top of Lucy's head.

"I'm not saying a word," Dinah smiled, resting her hand on her abdomen.

"Sleep well," Sirius said, "Both of you."


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

It was quiet, and everything felt calm. Dinah indulged in it because ever since she had seen the letters Lucy had gotten a few days back she had been riled up. So although she felt the sun on her face and knew it must be morning, she didn't want to open her eyes and get up; she was too cozy curled up in… the hospital wing bed, right? She thought she remembered that. She was here with Lucy.

Dinah heard a click, and then some shuffling footsteps but she tried to shut them out. Sleep was coming back…

She felt fingers in her hair, stroking. A smile formed on her face. She knew it was her husband, but her still-sleep-drug-induced brain chose this moment to grow nostalgic. Sleeping in here with Lucy, feeling fingers gently stroking her hair, reminded her of something.

She felt her lips quirk and managed a sleepy; "Is that Sirius? Last time I fell asleep with Lucy and woke up to fingers stroking my hair it was Sirius."

"Bloody hell, Dinah!" she heard Severus's exasperated exclamation as his hand jerked back, and she couldn't help but burst into a fit of giggles as she opened her eyes to see her husband looking annoyed and Sirius looking very amused. The two men had clearly come to see them this fine morning.

"Would you like me to give you a kiss too?" Sirius grinned, laying behind Lucy and stroking her hair.

"Well, I'd say yes, but if I do Severus might have a heart attack, won't you darling?" she asked, reaching over to take his hand, "I was just teasing."

"Very… funny…" he grumbled, glaring at her. Of course, he knew the story of when that had happened last year around Sirius's birthday. Dinah had fallen asleep in Lucy's rooms after they had watched some films together and they had both been so cocooned in blankets in the dark when Sirius had arrived for a surprise visit that he had been affectionate to the wrong girl. Almost kissed her, too.

"I wouldn't worry. I seem to remember Lu getting a little jealous that night. Wouldn't want to upset her unnecessarily, you know."

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Dinah admitted, "Guess it's good she's still asleep then," she moved to snuggle into her husband, "I missed you. Don't be too annoyed with me." She also remembered that at that time the idea of Severus stroking her hair to wake her up had been a distant wish. Now she could have it any time she wanted, and she was exceedingly grateful for it.

He sighed, returning reluctantly to his previous motion, "I assume you slept well, though."

"Beautifully," she confessed.

"And my lovely wife here is still sleeping. She's either more sensitive to the potion than you or she really needed all this sleep," Sirius said, looking down at Lucy's sleeping form.

"Or a bit of both," Dinah yawned, closing her eyes, intent on falling asleep again now that she was in an even cozier spot: her husband's arms.

As if to make a liar out of Sirius, Lucy mumbled, "Is it morning?"

"Nope," Dinah told her, in utter bliss right now, which only increased when the warm rumbling of Severus's light laughter filled her body. It was like she was melting into a comfortable goo.

"Good. I don't feel like getting up yet. There's parents… and beetles out there."

"Hm?" Dinah was a little confused by Lucy's comment, envisioning a bunch of little flying insects having infested the halls of Hogwarts.

She heard Sirius's laughter, "I think she means Rita Skeeter."

"Oh good. I was wondering what my parents were doing with a bunch of insects. Come to think of it, what are they doing with Rita Skeeter? They can't get into Hogwarts without ours and Minerva's permission," she said sleepily.

"Parents of students," Lucy clarified, sounding as if she was on her way back to sleep too.

"I doubt they're literally outside the doors," Sirius elaborated, "I'm sure she means it more in the figurative sense."

"Oh," she felt herself blush.

Meanwhile, Severus was laughing at her, "Perhaps you should go back to sleep, my love. We'll stay here with you both. There is still an hour and a half before classes begin and food can easily be brought to you."

"Mm," she snuggled in, nodding, "Thanks. I love my Severus," she smiled as he kissed her temple, "Want to request apple pancakes, Lucy? I think I want them."

"Mmm, those sound perfect Dinah."

"Thought so. Get them, will you?" she asked her husband, feeling herself drift off.

More chuckling, "Yes, we'll get right on that. Perhaps in a half hour or an hour. I doubt either one of you could muster the strength to bring a fork to your mouths in your current states."

"That's what we have you two for," Lucy mumbled, "You can feed us."

"Not until we can be sure you won't choke on them," Sirius said.

"Pancakes…" Dinah mumbled, her mouth watering at the thought though she was still too sleepy to do anything about it.

"Yes, pancakes," she could tell her husband was smiling, "Well, it seems you two are doing quite well this morning. Good. Then you and the baby are perfectly safe."

"Mm. Baby," she felt her lips curl into a smile as her hand wandered to rest on her abdomen. Almost instantly Severus's hand was on top of hers, and she felt so comfortable, her hand sandwiched between her husband and their baby. Their little family was safe and happy, and with that comforting thought it was easy to drift to sleep again.

* * *

><p>She didn't want to wake. No more than she'd wanted to wake earlier. She'd gone back to sleep then. Lucy seemed to remember a conversation about apples and she was hungry. It was what was preventing her from going back to sleep.<p>

"Morning," Sirius murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Mmm, food?"

"Only if you're awake enough to feed yourself. Dinah's already eating."

Not opening her eyes, Lucy reached down to where her baby still rested, feeling it kick against her hand. "I am hungry," she admitted, moving to sit herself up in the hospital bed. "We're okay, Dinah?" she asked, cracking her eyes open, "You're not mad at me anymore?"

"No!" Dinah gasped, dropping her fork, "I thought we talked about that yesterday."

"Now, please do not get excited again," Severus, sitting next to his wife, said with some concern, picking the fork back up and returning it to her hand.

"Oh," Lucy said, rubbing at her forehead, "We did? Sorry, everything's a little fuzzy still."

Dinah hung her head, staring sadly down at her food as she ate it at a slow pace, "Do you remember? I came in because I was having some cramps and we talked all about it."

"You did? Oh, Dinah you shouldn't have felt bad! I never meant for you to, I just… well, I guess we talked all that over, huh? I do sort of remember that. I'm sure it'll be come clearer in a few minutes."

"Here," Sirius said, setting the plate of apple pancakes on her lap, "eat something and I'm sure it will all become clear."

"I hope it comes clear," Dinah admitted, giving her a shy glance, "Remember? We talked about how even if you don't change everyone's minds, if you can change even a few people's minds it's worth fighting for. And I said I'd owl Alder. If you want."

"Actually I seem to remember you offering to call him," Lucy said, her lips quirking at the memory.

Dinah giggled and blushed, "Yes, well..."

"Relax," Lucy chuckled, "It's fine and feel free to owl him. I mean it can't make things any worse, can it?"

"Good, that's the spirit," she grinned, putting down her fork on her empty plate, "Well, I think I'm done. I should start getting ready for class."

"Are you certain you're up for it?" Severus hesitated, "I can tell Minerva to cancel-"

"Oh, no, please don't worry, I'm fine," she said, kissing him, "How about you, Lucy? Are you going to do class today?"

"Um, I kind of have to… Ginny's not here yet. I do have a break and then office hours though so it's an easy morning."

Dinah chuckled, "I guess I'm just too ambitious or something. I mean, I also have a break and I _could_ cancel and let Hermione do it, but..."

"I think it's okay though. Poppy wouldn't let you go back if she didn't think it was safe. Honestly, I want to get to class. I don't want to sit in bed for another few days like last time."

"That's good," Dinah smiled, allowing Severus to help her up from the bed. She waddled over to lean and hug Lucy, "I'm really sorry for yelling yesterday. Don't think I'm mad at you, okay? I'm not. I just want us all to get through this, you know?"

"I know," she assured her, hugging her friend back, "and it's okay. I probably deserved it… at least a little bit."

"Well... I only said it all because I care. At least you know that," Dinah drew back with a smile, "And we'll work this out. _You'll_ work it out, I know you will. But if you need Sev to hex your father - or me to physically assault Rita Skeeter, don't hesitate to ask. After the baby is born, of course," she added when Severus gave her a look.

"Thank you," she replied, sniffling some. It felt good to have people around her that would be there for her like that. "If you don't mind would you see if Alder could to this interview thing soon? I think I'd like to have it over and out there before I have to meet with the Board. That could happen any time I suppose…"

"I'll owl him right away," Dinah assured.

"Thanks," she said, "and you'll come over… when Alder comes?"

Dinah's expression softened as she walked over to grab Severus's hand in preparation for allowing him to lead her from the infirmary, "We'll be right there with you. After all, you were there for me during the whole parselmouth series of interviews."

"Only some of them," Lucy blushed, leaning into Sirius.

"But it meant a lot to have your support. I know how it is," she assured, "Enjoy the rest of your apple pancakes."

"I will and good luck with classes. Take it easy or Poppy will tie you to a bed and ban you from all manner of activities."

Dinah gave a teasing wince, "Yes, and heaven knows I want to prevent _that_ from happening," she said, tightening her grip on her husband's hand as his eyes wandered around the room and he managed to look embarrassed.

Lucy giggled, "I'll see you at lunch. If not I'm likely still here for one reason or another."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be out of here by lunch," Dinah grinned, "See you then." She waved and then exited the room with her husband.

"Everything's going to work out just fine," Sirius murmured, softly pressing his lips into her hair.

* * *

><p>Lucy took a deep breath and looked out over her last class of the day. Her first and third year classes had gone well, but then again she hadn't had to deal with Septimus yet and she wouldn't until the next day when she had her fourth years. Instead of thinking of that she looked at her second years and said, "Well, it's good to see you all again. Are there any questions that you've had since last class?"<p>

No one raised their hand but Lucy did notice Lisette, Mae's friend, slumped into the back corner desk on the right side, nearest the door, while Mae shot her both concerned and disapproving looks.

"All right then. Now, I know that all of you are aware of conflict, what it is, and how it relates to a narrative. Today I'd like to go a little more in depth as to the types of conflict. Can anyone give me a few examples? Yes, Andrew?" she called on the second year Slytherin boy when he raised his hand.

One. Two. Three sneezes later he was able to answer. "There's… man versus society."

"Very good. Five points to Slytherin. Would you care to give us an example?" Lucy asked, taking a seat behind her desk.

"Um, okay," Andrew said, his face growing all red as he paused to blow his nose. "I guess it's sort of like how Rita Skeeter's trying to turn everyone against you and get you sacked. My parents like to believe what she writes but… in this case I know they're wrong."

Lucy bit her lip, remembering Severus's sensible advice not to break down in front of the students. It was a sweet thing for the boy to say. Even though she would rather not have thought about her troubles with Rita Skeeter and the rest of the world right now at least, because of Andrew Speasy's words, Lucy was reassured she had allies out there somewhere.

"Well," she cleared her throat, "yes. Thank you, Andrew. That means quite a lot to me."

"Um, sure," his already red face turned a little redder as he leaned over his notes. From the next desk over, Mae was beaming at him.

It wasn't until right before she dismissed the class for the day that Lisette, who had not stopped shooting dirty looks Lucy's way, finally spoke what was clearly on her mind. "Professor Black?" she asked, having walked up to the front of the room, but mumbling as she stared at her toes and not at Lucy.

"Yes, Lisette? What can I do for you?"

The words that came out of her mouth were a bunch of incoherent mumbling followed by "-this class?" Meanwhile, Mae must have heard what she'd said because she glared at her friend a little and shook her head from where she was standing nearby.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that. What about this class?"

The girl heaved a sigh, and still without looking up more clearly enunciated, "What is the proper Hogwarts procedure for dropping this class?"

"Uh, um… I…" Lucy was almost too shocked to cry. Not even Septimus had inquired about dropping the class. Of course his mother probably wouldn't allow it but even so. "I'm afraid I don't know," she murmured, "I could inquire with Professor McGonagall… or you could yourself… Is there any particular reason you no longer wish to take this class? You're doing quite well in it."

"I just have to drop it," her tone was somewhat cold, or at least distant, "My Mum wants me to drop it and I think it's a good idea, too. I just wanted to make sure Hogwarts allowed that."

"Lisette, don't," Mae seemed like she could no longer contain herself, "You like this class. You do good in it. You shouldn't-"

"But it's an elective and I don't have to take it, Mae! It's not safe..." the last part was almost too quiet for Lucy to hear, but Mae scoffed at the idea.

"Not safe? I don't… I don't understand. I can assure you every one of my students are perfectly safe in my care."

"I want to drop the class," she said stiffly, finally looking up at Lucy with a fearful determination in her gaze.

"Well," Lucy said, trying to be calm but afraid she wasn't doing a very good job at it, "One of us will have to inquire about the procedure with Professor McGonagall. This isn't something that occurs very often so…"

"I'll do it. I just wanted to let you know because it's polite." With that, she turned and marched from the room, past where Andrew was still hovering around in the back waiting for Mae.

"I'm so sorry!" the other girl burst out once Lisette had left the room, "That was mean of her. It was so mean..."

"It's fine," Lucy said, starting to sniffle now that the other girl had left, "Sorry. It's just hormones… I can't keep them in check forever. I knew this would happen. I knew people wouldn't want their kids… here. With me."

Lucy was shocked when the little girl flung a hug around her expanded waist, "Me and Andrew still love this class."

"Oh," she returned Dinah's favorite student's hug, "Thank you, Mae. You too Andrew."

The little boy managed another embarrassed smile, "Mae says Lisette and her family are afraid of everything that's... different. And she'd drop Muggle Studies if it wasn't required... but she's wrong."

"I appreciate the support… from both of you. Oh!" she gasped and looked down to where Mae still had her arms wrapped around Lucy's middle, "Did you feel that Mae?"

She gasped and looked up, beaming as she took a step back, "I did! It's so strong! I never felt anything like that before... I only have my older brother and no little cousins."

"Here," she said, taking Mae's hand and moving it to an appropriate spot, "Feel that? A roundish hard spot? That's the head."

"Ohhh..." her eyes went wide, "Wow. Thank you for showing me. I bet it's really healthy."

"I hope so," Lucy nodded; talking about One was helping to calm her nerves, "Now we should probably get on to dinner. If we don't hurry all the best food will be gone."

"Okay. We'll walk with you. Right, Andrew?" she asked, hurrying over to her friend and grasping his hand.

He shrugged, blushing again, whether because of them being nice to Lucy still or because of Mae holding his hand, she couldn't tell.

"Thanks again. It's very nice to know that not everyone is afraid of me," Lucy admitted.

"I'm not afraid of you," Mae smiled, "And I think there are a lot of people that feel the same way. At least as many as those that feel the opposite."

"If only it were that simple," Lucy sighed, walking towards the Great Hall with the two second years.

"I probably shouldn't say this, but I think Headmistress McGonagall will make sure they don't sack you," Mae said, "She's good about that kind of thing. Luna told me all about the nice things she and all the other Professors did to make things as right as possible during the war."

"She did do her best," Lucy acknowledged, "but unfortunately there may not be much she can do about it. If enough parents protest, if my class enrollment drops enough, if the Board of Governors decides… She and Professor Snape will do all they can to prevent it I know, but they might not be able to stop it."

Mae looked sad as they entered the Great Hall, "What if... the parents of people who like you protest too? What if they petition for you to stay? Can that help?"

"Mm, I'd like to think so," she smiled down at the girl. "Of course I tend to have a rather pessimistic view of things like this so maybe it would help more than I think it would."

"I'll owl my Mum and see if she can send in a positive letter about you to the Board of Governors. Oh! And ask Mrs. Professor Snape about that nice reporter from last year. Mr. Alder, I think he was."

"That's a lovely thing to do Mae. You're a very sweet girl," Lucy praised, "As for Mr. Alder, Mrs. Professor Snape told me this morning she would contact him, but you can double check with her if you'd like."

"Okay! Oh, it doesn't look like she and Mr. Professor Snape are here today," she said, pointing up at the staff table.

"They likely just wanted to spend a quiet evening at home after everything that happened yesterday," Lucy said, "I'm sure if anything was wrong one of us would have been told."

"Okay, well, enjoy your dinner. Remember, everything will be fine, you'll see!" she beamed, waving and heading to her seat, parting with Andrew when they had to sit at different tables.

"Everything go well today?" Sirius asked as she took her seat next to him.

"Mostly. I had a student request to drop the class. I don't think I've quite processed that yet, but Mae Yates proved to be very helpful. She's a very astute and caring girl. I can see why Dinah likes her."

"Good. I'm glad she could help you. You need to stay as relaxed and stress-free as possible," Sirius said, rubbing her back.

"I know. I'm trying," she assured him. The thought crossed her mind that Severus might even have been a little proud of the way she'd handled herself today. She'd been flustered in front of Lisette, sure, but she hadn't had a breakdown. Even after the girl left and her hormones had got the best of her it still hadn't been as bad as normal. Yes, she thought, she was improving.


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

"Severus, you would have been proud of me," Lucy told him as the other couple entered their rooms for dinner the following day, "and even you aren't you should at least pretend to be."

As expected, that got a raised eyebrow out of him, "Is that so? Do elaborate."

"Well, Dinah might already have heard some of this from Mae but I did not cry in front of my class yesterday."

"I suppose that's a good thing," he admitted, still looking a little confused, "Though I hope there was an incident and you do not consider crying in front of your class somehow compulsory. I have heard nothing from Dinah," he turned to his wife.

"Sorry, I didn't get a chance to tell you yet," Dinah smiled, "And yes, Lucy, Mae told me a bit about it. She asked me to contact Alder and I told her I already had. And she told me about Lisette, too..." she sighed, "That girl... there just seems to be no getting through to her."

Lucy sighed and shook her head, "I don't know. I've never had any problems with her in class, nothing out of the ordinary anyway and then she just comes up after class yesterday and asks to drop the course. Made some comment that she wouldn't explain about it not being safe."

"Mae told me..." Dinah hesitated, biting her lip, "That Lisette's afraid of you now. Like she is of me with the parseltongue..."

"But I haven't _done_ anything," Lucy frowned, " Nothing that should make my students fear me anyway."

Dinah turned a sad glance down to the floor and shrugged.

Severus sighed, "What she is trying to say, although it will be difficult to hear, is that your supposed 'mental stability' might make certain students nervous. At least, the way that Rita Skeeter painted it out to be. It has nothing to do with the truth of the matter."

"I kind of expected this to happen you know," Lucy said, covering the hand Sirius put on her shoulder with her own, "I know it's an elective and all but there are children in there because someone else wants them to be, not because _they_ want to be."

"It's just one student for now, though," Dinah tried to reassure, "And maybe Alder can help. Unfortunately, he's on assignment out of the country and won't be able to come for an interview until after Severus's birthday... but he says he'll be here as soon as he can."

"That's good," Sirius nodded, maneuvering them into the dining area, "At least Lucy'll finally have some help disproving what Skeeter says."

"He's good, I speak from experience," Dinah assured.

"Mae was very helpful about the whole thing," Lucy said, diverting the subject to another topic, "She's very mature and thoughtful. It's easy to forget she's only twelve. Reminds me a little bit of myself really, though she's more outgoing."

Dinah smiled, "She's a very sweet girl. Even Severus likes her."

"I never said that," he grumbled his protest.

Lucy giggled, "You've never said you like me either but we both know it's true."

He groaned and turned to his wife, "And we _must_ have them over on Sunday?"

"Yes," she giggled, "We must. You know you want to, birthday boy."

He just scowled and glared at the wall.

"Oh, come now. I'm bringing cake and presents."

"I need neither one nor the other. I said as much last year."

"Oh, stop being a party pooper," Dinah ordered, pulling him over so they could sit down at the table, "Now what's for dinner?"

"Macaroni and cheeeeeeeeeeeeeese," Lucy toned. She'd had a craving for the food since lunch but diligently waited until dinner so she could share the meal with her equally pregnant friend.

"Oh!" she clapped her hands together, "That sounds wonderful!"

"It does seem that since Christmas your appetite issues have grown less... unstable," Severus noted, "You lose your appetite less often."

"I guess it's because... it's getting into the third trimester and almost time for this little one to be born," Dinah said, smiling and placing a hand on her swelled abdomen.

"Not much longer for you at all," Lucy said, slightly envious, "February's not that far away."

"Well, March is just a month after," Dinah grinned, "Oh! Vegetable soup! The perfect appetizer!"

Laughing, Lucy said, "Yes, it is. And March is a whole extra four weeks away. Do you know how long it's been?"

"Two months, three weeks, four days, and about seventeen hours, thirty-four minutes," Sirius supplied.

"You're counting?" Lucy asked.

"You're not?"

"Months, weeks, and days maybe but not hours and minutes. That's just ridiculous."

Severus heaved a sigh as he served himself some soup, while Dinah just gave them a quizzical look, "What happened two months a- oh!" she turned bright red, furiously spooning in her own soup.

Lucy bit her lip and though her face probably matched her hair color she said, "I know what you're thinking. Who counts stuff like that? Let me assure you I never thought I'd be one of those people until I was cut off. Oh, and Severus is likely thinking something along the lines of, 'Dear Merlin make her shut up'."

"Quite close, actually," he admitted with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I'm really just embarrassed that I didn't realize what you meant sooner," Dinah explained, transfiguring her soup bowl to twice its original size so she could fit more in.

"Ah, well, I was trying to be vague for Severus's sake," she said, watching her guest ladle most of the soup into her bowl. "Don't fill up on soup. We've still got the main course and dessert to go."

"I won't, I won't," Dinah assured, waving her off and digging into her bowl.

Next to her, Severus took two bites of soup and then frowned down at it with a considering gaze. He looked thoughtful, maybe a little pensieve and reminiscent. Then Lucy recalled the last time they'd eaten vegetable soup in her rooms together. It had been nearly a year ago, during the youthening, and Severus hadn't eaten much soup at all. It had been a stressful time, the day after Lucy had had her mental breakdown. And she knew Dinah and Severus had been going through some tough times about then too.

He sighed and lifted his head to gaze about the room, "My birthday is coming up, is it...?" he trailed, lost in thought.

"Nothing," he assured, turning back to her and raising an eyebrow at her bowl, which she had filled even more after eating some of it, "Are you sure you won't be filling up on that?"

"Oh, honestly you two," Dinah laughed, "Who fills up on soup?"

"Most normal people," Sirius teased.

Lucy sat back in her chair thinking. It had been after Severus's birthday and _on_ Lucy's that she and Dinah had had what she'd thought was a falling out. Both women had thought the other was mad at them after Sirius called Severus Snivellus and Dinah had slapped him. The thought of those weeks still unnerved her a bit and she hoped nothing like that happened again. She wasn't sure if her body could take it just now.

"Lucy?" Sirius asked, pushing some of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm fine," she said, shaking her head, "Just thinking… about last year."

"Hm," was all Severus responded with. Lucy wondered if he had been thinking of last year, too.

"What part of last year?" Dinah asked, moving her soup to share the space in front of her with a plate of macaroni and cheese, "So much happened..."

"The, uh, bad part," she said, pushing her cheese-covered noodles around, suddenly having no appetite for them, "Well, the one bad part anyway. The part when we weren't talking…"

"Oh," Dinah's face fell and she put her soup spoon down, "That part. I'm sorry about that. It was hard... this year I'm going to give you a proper birthday present, I promise," she looked up at her with a determined gaze, "In person."

"I'm not worried about presents. And it only took having a mental breakdown to get these two on civil ground," Lucy said, giving up the pretense of eating and shoving her plate away.

"Don't be upset, Lucy," Dinah said, tears filling her eyes, "At least they did end up on civil ground. I'm sorry I had to hit... you know, I'm not normally a violent person, I just... needed to. And then I thought you hated me so I was scared... I was just a little girl. I shouldn't have thought that of you, but I worried myself too much and was just afraid. I was just a little girl... "she repeated, fiddling with her napkin.

"Dinah, don't cry!" Lucy wailed, grabbing up her own napkin, "It… I… It's not that. I just… I was thinking I hope nothing like that happens again this year and then my mind went to that time… when I heard Bella… and had a breakdown and… I just… I was wandering the halls. What if a student saw? What if that happens again? What if… someone knows about it and tries to bring it up as evidence for my 'instability'?"

"Oh, that's what you meant," Dinah sniffled, dabbing her eyes with the napkin, "But I don't think anybody saw."

"But…"

"Lucy," Sirius said, pulling her plate back in front of her, "You should eat."

"I'm not hungry," she mumbled.

"See?" Dinah murmured, turning to bury her face in her husband's shoulder, "I told you. It seems like I only know the sad Lucy."

He sighed, running his fingers through her hair, "One moment of reminiscences sets off the hormone wave, it seems..."

"Well, Dinah says you're the calendar… How much longer?" Sirius asked.

"For mine?" he smirked, "Six weeks. You already know yours to a much greater level of detail."

"It's fine. I'm better now," Lucy insisted, shoving a forkful of macaroni and cheese in her mouth, "See? And I'm certain things will improve after Alder's article comes out. I have to believe that."

Dinah peeked out from her husbands robes, "Really?"

"Of course," Lucy nodded, perhaps not quite so confident as she was trying to appear, "Mae even said she was going to owl her Mum about writing a positive letter about me. That can't hurt to have that. It's a couple more people on my side. Even Septimus's mother might be on my side. I'm all 'approved' to marry a Black after all."

She nodded, "Even if you're just saying that, it makes me feel a little better. Positive self-talk can make you feel positive, you know. It's a psychological technique."

"Is it? I guess I'll just have to be determined to make sure I keep practicing it then."

Dinah nodded, scrubbing at her eyes with the napkin again, "Good. I guess now you've seen my hormonal problem... I get sort of childish..." she admitted, blushing.

"That's okay," Lucy assured her friend, "It's not any worse than randomly bawling your eyes out for the silliest things. The other day one of the kittens crawled out from under the bed and got lost under the dresser. Dora couldn't get it and it just kept crying. It was so sad," Lucy started crying a little again as she relived it.

"Oh, the poor kitty," Dinah sniffled, tearing up again as well. Meanwhile, Severus was looking about ready to try to drown himself in his soup, as Lucy had once thought of attempting when Slughorn kept going on and on in the Great Hall.

"And this is what I came home to," Sirius said, gesturing from the two weeping women to Severus. "I had to rescue the creature because someone was too upset to think about using her wand."

"Well it's not her fault, all logic goes away when a poor sweet little animal is suffering," Dinah explained between whimpers.

"Even though logic would have ended that suffering?" Severus rolled his eyes, "Yes, there is a dark side to excessive empathy. Perhaps, Sirius, we should construct _actual_ calendars so we can mark off the days. I confess, I would feel more productive if I had visual confirmation of the fact that they are actually passing."

Sirius chuckled, "It might be beneficial."

"But it was even worse," Lucy said, ignoring both men, "They hadn't opened their eyes yet! Oh," she said, getting distracted from her weeping, "You haven't seen them in a while. They've opened their eyes! Sirius you should go get them and let Dinah and Severus see."

"Oh!" Dinah exclaimed, "Yes, bring them in!"

Severus sighed, "And meantime, stop crying and eat," he placed her spoon back in her hand, "It has not escaped my attention that you haven't tasted your macaroni yet."

"Okay," she agreed, giving him a watery smile, "You're always looking out for me."

"Half the time she's grateful, the other half she tells me to mind my own business..." he mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else.

"I think I might prefer that versus two hospital stays, bed rest, and… restrictions," Sirius said, obligingly getting up and going to fetch Dora and the kittens.

"Yes, I suppose it's all perspective," Severus mused, watching his wife eat.

"This is tasty, Lucy," Dinah said, "Good choice."

"I'd been craving it since lunch. Of course now I'm not hungry," Lucy said, having gone back to pushing her food around her plate.

"But you _have_ to be hungry!" Dinah pleaded, "If you're not hungry it's like you're still bothered by... things. Are you? Or is it just a pregnancy 'not hungry'?"

"Pregnancy, I think. It's happened once or twice before," Lucy admitted as Sirius reentered the room carrying a box of kittens and Dora following at his heals. The mother cat had grown much more calm and tolerant of Sirius in the last week or so.

"Ohhh!" Dinah instantly shifted into 'cute-response' mode and reached for the box, "Let me hold them, let me hold them!"

"Careful," Lucy cautioned, "I don't know how Dora will react. She's been better lately but…"

Dinah didn't seem too worried as she reached in and plucked out the dark brown one with the white boots on its feet, cuddling it against her cheek, "Oh, we're getting so big, aren't we? Yes we are."

"I've started calling this one Piggy." Lucy grinned, running her finger along one of the remaining kittens, "It seems like anytime we get them out from under the bed he's always begging to nurse."

"And that's after having had to listen to their suckling all night," Sirius grumbled a bit.

"Aww, how cute," Dinah giggled, reaching to scratch behind the tiny cat's ears, "I like food too, little fellow, it's okay." She picked him up and tucked him into the crook of her arm, then grabbed the last kitten as well, so she had all three of them in her possession. Thankfully, Dora was being civil.

"And just what are you going to do when One is born?" Lucy asked her husband, watching Dora pad over to bat at Severus's robes, content that her kittens were well taken care of for the moment.

"Sleep," he grinned, "There's not much I can do in the way of feedings."

"Oh, yeah?" Dinah raised an eyebrow, "Breast milk can be put into bottles, you know. You're not necessarily out of the woods."

"Not to mention burping and changing One. I'll have been through plenty for this kid by the time it's born. The least you can do is get up and _bring_ me the baby," Lucy said, "and then you can listen and reminisce about how we used to listen to the kittens feed all night, except instead of kittens now it's a baby."

"That sounds lovely," Dinah sighed.

"Not so much according to Tonks and Aunt Molly," Lucy felt compelled to admit to her friend, "Your nipples get all sore for the first while and I'm also told you're… breasts in general can get rather full and painful just before you feed or 'engorged' when you're trying to wean."

"Well, I really meant the reminiscing part that was lovely," Dinah corrected with a grimace.

"Oh," Lucy said, embarrassed, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Dinah giggled, "But let's try to focus on the more positive aspects of childbirth, shall we?"

"We can try," Lucy grinned, "After all no matter what we get a little baby at the end of all this."

"That's the spirit!" Dinah grinned, "Now eat your macaroni and cheese."

Obedient, Lucy picked up another forkful of her dinner, happy that even with all their hormones she and Dinah could usually find a way to end on a happier note.


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

"You've got the presents?" Lucy asked, knocking on Severus's office door as they arrived for his birthday party, "And the cake?"

"Yes and you've got those pictures you've decided they needed to have copies of," Sirius nodded with a grin.

The door opened to reveal a neutral-looking Severus, who sighed, "Dinah insisted I be the one to open the door."

"Is that like the tree she insisted on putting up?" Lucy giggled, leaning forward to hug the birthday boy, "Happy birthday!"

"Mm. Thank you," he agreed, making an awkward effort to hug her back for a split second. It was the second time he had done so.

"See, I told you you liked me," she teased, following him into the living area behind his office.

"Hmph," he replied, and Lucy guessed he was just embarrassed.

"Now, I hope you like the cake. I found a bunch of recipes in that box of cake stuff you two got me for Christmas and I just had to try this one. It's called Lemon Lust! But that's not why I picked it. I just thought it sounded yummy and like something you might like, Severus. It's a white cake with a lemon syrup and raspberry jam filling. The frosting's lemon buttercream too. I hope it's not too lemony though."

"Oooh, lust!" Dinah teased, coming up and running a hand along Severus's arm while he glared at her with a little growl she cheerfully ignored, "It sounds delicious, Lucy. And Severus likes lemon. He really enjoyed the Muggle lemon bars I made for him over the summer."

"Oh, good! Sirius give Dinah the cake then we can all sit down. I'm officially thirty-one weeks today and this child is putting a strain on my back _and_ my feet."

"You're telling me," Dinah agreed, taking the cake and levitating it over to a central spot on the table, "Oh, I got a letter from Alder today. He'll be at Hogwarts on Tuesday to interview you. Sev and I offered for us all to have lunch down here."

"Thanks," Lucy said, trying to quell her sudden bout of nerves, "This is all really nice of you both. I appreciate it."

"It's no problem," she assured, "Now, let's eat. I requested all of Sev's favorites. It's his first real birthday 'party' this year, so he sees this as being spoiled," she grinned at her husband, who offered her an uneasy smile in return, though his gaze seemed distant.

"Well, we're going to positively help spoil him then!" Lucy said, motioning for Sirius to hand over the presents they brought, "We couldn't quite decide so we got a variety of things."

Again, Severus attempted to express awkward gratitude, "It's no trouble. I'm told that I am difficult to buy for."

"It wasn't that," Sirius said, "This one couldn't make up her mind. You should be grateful that I talked her out of the one she really wanted to give you."

"Well, I thought it would have been a lovely gift," Lucy frowned, "Regardless I still found lots of things we can bestow on our friend here."

"Ah... thank you. Perhaps we should eat first," Severus said, trying to deflect the attention away from his gifts for the time being, or so it seemed.

"Yes, I'm currently starving! Hey, now," Lucy frowned, looking down at her abdomen and poking at her left side, "Dinner time is not an appropriate moment to stick your fist into my stomach. Move."

"Somebody's not happy?" Dinah teased, serving herself some salad with a vinaigrette dressing the house elves made that was quite popular at Hogwarts.

Laughing, Lucy said, "I guess not. I suppose One doesn't like salads."

"Well, you've got to make sure he eats his vegetables," Dinah grinned, as they moved on to serve themselves the main course which included a dragon roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and asparagus tips. There were also some sweet corn muffins on the side with butter and jam.

"That's better," she said, looking down to watch the always perplexing sight of the bulk of her middle moving from one side to the other. "Thank you. Now we are going to eat this fabulous dinner because _I_ like it. I'm not even sure you can taste so you can only have so much say in this decision."

"Does Dinah do this too?" Sirius asked, looking over to Severus, "Have conversations with the baby? Talking to it is one thing but she has actual conversations."

"Not to that extent, no, though now that she's seen Lucy do it I wouldn't be surprised if she started," Severus smirked.

"Oh, now, you act like we're a couple of kids, mimicking each other like that," Dinah grinned.

"No, just a couple of hormonal pregnant ladies," Sirius teased.

"Well, I don't have to do everything Lucy does, so there," Dinah turned her nose up, now spreading jam and butter on her muffin without looking at it.

"See? Childish," Severus clarified, "Dinah, you are spreading jam on your fingers."

"Oh, but it's good like that," Lucy giggled, taking a bite of her mashed potatoes.

"Oh, yes, I always eat jam off of myself, it helps the flavor," Dinah teased, laughing as she looked back down and licked the sweet condiment from her hand.

"Dinah! Before I forget I brought something for you too," Lucy said, sliding the packet full of pictures to her friend.

"Oh! What are these?" Dinah asked, opening the pictures and popping them out into her hand, "Oh! How lovely! From your wedding?"

"And the Yule Ball too. I thought you'd like some copies," Lucy said, admiring the small forms of herself and Sirius moving about the picture Dinah held.

"These are lovely," she agreed, thumbing through them past the pictures of the wedding party, "Oh, I look quite nice."

"Yes, and look at how thin we both look! Remember being able to see our toes and do silly things like bend over? It seems like so long ago."

"Oh, yes, thank you for the reminder," Dinah laughed, "Lately I've been getting quite waddly..." she trailed with a heavy sigh.

"We're focusing on the positive aspects, remember?" Sirius teased.

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "We get to watch Severus try and manage a baby for a couple weeks and then we get to watch you try and do the same thing."

"Yet another thing that might help them bond," Dinah grinned.

"Look, that's one of the ones I wanted to use in the present Sirius was talking about earlier. Looking back he was probably right but still…" She pointed to the picture of Severus dancing with her, her head on his shoulder and her eyes closed. Lucy thought she looked content and peaceful. Severus, of course, looked uncomfortable but also like he was trying to come to terms with Lucy's affectionate nature.

"Aww, that's so sweet," Dinah sighed, holding it out for Severus's inspection, "Look."

He gave a sort of awkward, grimacing smile and nodded, "Mm. I see."

"Told you he wouldn't have liked it," Sirius smirked.

"Well, I was just going to put it in a frame with that other picture. It's not like I would have demanded he displayed it or something."

"I did not say anything about _disliking_ the picture, it is simply... something I am not... used to..." Severus tried to explain, frowning down at his mashed potatoes.

"It's fine," Lucy insisted, "I didn't really expect you to gush over them anyway. Dinah can put them all in a book or display them. Whatever she decides to do. Oh, look. The Yule Ball. Seems like it was so long ago, but really it's only been a couple weeks."

"Mm, yes," Dinah agreed, smiling, "Oh! Is this the other one you were going to use?' she asked, after stumbling on the picture of a pose similar to the one at the wedding. Of course in this one Lucy didn't look quite as happy and Severus looked…perhaps slightly frustrated with her.

"I got some of these from Jania and some from Agrona," Lucy explained, "They both wanted pictures to remember everything by. I suppose a lot of girls did."

"Mm. Oh, look, there's one of the two of us, too,," Dinah said, finding one of her and Severus and showing her husband both pictures, the one of him with Lucy and the one of him with her, "Don't worry, we won't frame them. I will put them in a nice album, though, along with the ones the photographers took at the ball."

"Of course," he agreed, nodding.

"Are we ready for the cake now?" Lucy asked, almost bouncing in her seat with excitement, "I even used Muggle methods to decorate it. I don't think it turned out half-bad this time."

"Of course, and we just know Sev wants to eat his lust cake," Dinah teased, giggling when her husband heaved a sigh, "Oh, all right. We can't mess with him too much tonight, okay Lucy? It's his birthday, it's the least we could do," she offered him a smile.

The gaze Severus returned to his wife was one of surprised, gentle gratitude. But then it changed to a sort of odd, almost significant look.

"What?" she asked.

"Ah. Nothing," he insisted, "Lucy, if you will produce your... 'lust' cake," he grimaced, but she was surprised at what a good sport he was being.

"Now, now that's just what it's called. I didn't name it," she grinned, taking out her wand, swishing and flicking to levitate the delicious-looking cake over to the table.

"Mm," Dinah licked her lips, positively grabbing for it.

"Ah ah," Lucy scolded, swatting at her friend's hand, "This is Severus's cake. He gets the first bite."

"Oh, right," Dinah blushed, "And we have to sing, too. Here, light some candles," she floated the candles she had promised to provide over, sprinkling them across the cake evenly, "Forty candles creates quite a flame, dear. I guess that's what happens when you get old," she winked.

He sighed, shaking his head, "You will be the same age this year."

She chuckled, "But as I pointed out last year, not before you."

"Mm," he agreed, seeming solemn for a minute as his gaze drifted, but in a moment it returned to the cake, "Well, light it then, if it amuses you so."

Lucy watched as all the many candles lit and just like last year it was only the women that sang happy birthday. When they were done, Lucy again waved her wand, slicing the cake and dishing it out to everyone, Severus first.

"Thank you," he nodded, taking a bite before nodding once more, "It is quite satisfactory."

"It's delicious!" Dinah insisted, "That's Severus language for delicious. Really, Lucy, this cake is brilliant! 'Lust' is the perfect word!"

"Well, we do all know that it is often quite a close contest between me and food," Severus smirked.

"It's good to know I could never tempt Dinah away from you with food," Lucy grinned, "Though it might be a really tough choice. Making cakes is, apparently, one of the few things I can do very well."

"You can do a lot of things," Dinah insisted, finished with her piece before Severus had even taken five bites.

Lucy snorted a little and looked down at her lap, or tried to anyway; it was fast being swallowed by her expanding stomach. Yes, she could do things. Make cakes, get pregnant, read, teach, though apparently she couldn't be trusted to influence children… "You're right. I'm sorry. I was just having a little moment I guess," she said, looking up and grinning.

"It's all right, we all have those," Dinah said with an understanding smile, "But let's let Sev have the moments today. After all, it _is_ his birthday."

"It is," Lucy nodded, "Would you like another piece of cake Severus? Or are you ready for presents? Sirius helped pick them out."

"I did no such thing. You wouldn't let me," he protested.

Severus didn't comment, but he actually look surprised. Dinah voiced it, though, when she said, "But the fact that you offered to try means... a lot. Wow, so much has changed..."

"Um, he kept picking out things in Wizard Wheezes…" Lucy giggled, "I'm not sure that should be taken as a compliment."

"Oh," Severus snarled, "I see. No, that isn't, then."

Dinah chuckled, "I'm not sure Sev is quite ready for gag gifts, Sirius, but thanks."

"See, then I exercised good judgment when I said that picture wouldn't be a gift he'd like. I couldn't talk her out of that –"

"Shh!" Lucy interrupted, swatting at her husband, "You're going to ruin the surprise! Besides, it's a useful gift."

"Well, now I just have to know what it is," Dinah chuckled, but then nudged Lucy, "It seems that Severus wants to have a second piece of cake first, though." Sure enough, Lucy looked to see that Severus was serving himself another slice, though looking grumpy and embarrassed about it to be sure.

"Like it, do you?" Lucy teased.

"I have told you it is satisfactory," he muttered.

Giggling, Lucy said, "All right. I'll leave you alone now. After you open these of course." She floated over the handful of small packages over to the table.

"Thank you," Severus once again murmured his awkward gratitude, gingerly taking the top, long slender box from the pile, just the one Lucy had hoped he would open first.

"Don't blame me if he doesn't like that one," Sirius warned, "I told you not to get it."

"Oh, bah," Lucy huffed, waving him off, "It's fun and practical."

"'Fun', you say?" Severus raised an eyebrow, looking both suspicious and curious as he unwrapped the box, lifted the lid, and withdrew the long, lime-green fwooper feather quill Lucy had selected for him. Turning it around in his hands to inspect it, he managed to say, "Quite an... interesting choice, Lucy. Very bright."

"I don't actually expect you to use it in front of people," Lucy giggled, "I just thought it looked fun."

He gave a slight smile, setting it aside, "It will be useful. Thank you."

It was Dinah's turn to giggle, "'Useful', is his generic gift response, even for stuff I give him. Expect him to say it for every other gift in that pile."

"Ah, well. In this case it should be true," Lucy assured her. Dinah's prediction had proven right. Every time he opened a gift Severus told her it would be 'useful'. Considering it was a random selection of potions and defense items, Lucy wasn't surprised.

When Severus had finished his cake, they'd moved over to the sitting room for the last few presents, and then Dinah gave him hers, a series of quite expensive and somewhat dangerous potions ingredients.

"Ah," he smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown when he turned to look at her, "I trust you did not go into Knockturn Alley this time."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "No, not while pregnant. I mail-ordered these. But what if I did go when I wasn't pregnant, what would you do?" she challenged.

"Tie you to the bed and have his way with you?" Lucy offered, wishing her own husband could do the same thing.

"Uh, I don't think so," Dinah chuckled, turning her eyebrow next to Lucy, "Last year he got frustrated because I went to Knockturn Alley alone, but I'm a grown woman and can take care of myself there, especially now that the whole world knows I'm his wife."

"Mm, I suppose," Severus grumbled, "Thank you for the ingredients. They will be-"

"Useful, I know," Dinah chuckled, taking his face and kissing him, "I love you."

Lucy sighed and snuggled into her husband's side. She liked watching happy people. For some reason it made her appreciate everything she had and how wonderful it all was. Well, most of it anyway. In some ways she was looking forward to Tuesday, to getting the interview over and done with. Hopefully it would help, make everything go back to the way it had been this summer. Happy.


	64. Chapter 64

A/N: It's been forever since I've updated and I'm so sorry! Hopefully the long chapter will make up for it. The good news is I've been working on the story this whole time and I'm so close to finishing! Hang in there readers, the end is in sight :)

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><p>Chapter 64<p>

"No, thank you. I can't eat right now," Lucy said, waving away Dinah's offer of grilled cheese and tomato soup. "I'm too anxious. It'll just make me sick to my stomach."

"Now stop worrying," Dinah insisted, "Everything's going to be fine. Alder should show up any minute now and then you can set things straight."

"At least sit down if you're not going to eat," Sirius added, "and do what Dinah said. I'm not sure what Poppy would do if you showed up in her hospital wing again."

Lucy let out a deep breath and plopped down onto a chair, "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just… well, it's kind of like you said earlier Dinah. You had decided you were ready to deal with your Parselmouth. I don't want to have to do this, to deal with all of it yet, but… I have to. I can't hide from it."

"I know," Dinah said sympathetically, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Oh. There's the door. Severus, will you go greet Alder? It would take me an hour to waddle over there from here."

"Indeed," Severus chuckled, putting down his sandwich and heading over to his office to let the visitor in.

Lucy closed her eyes for a moment, "I'm doing the right thing," she murmured, "If I have to do this I'm going to make sure it's the truth and _my_ words. Not someone else's conjectures."

"Good," Dinah encouraged, "That's great, Lucy. Ah, Alder, it's so good to see you."

"Oh, please don't get up," a young male voice said with some cautious amusement, as Lucy opened her eyes to see her friend struggling to stand from her chair, "I can come over there."

"Oh, nonsense, I'm fine," Dinah waved him off, grunting as she managed to heave herself into a standing position and waddle over to shake Alder's hand, "Thank you so much for coming out here."

"It's the least I could do. You know how much I love countering Rita's outrageous claims," he smiled, turning to Lucy, "Hello again, Mrs. Black. Seems the last time I interviewed you you were telling me positive things about Dinah... now I assume she'll be returning the favor," he extended his hand.

"I hope so," she said, attempting to give a confident smile as she attempted to use Sirius for leverage to help her stand and lumber over to Alder. "Dinah is… and the situations are…"

"Crying women don't bother you I hope, Mr. Alder," Sirius grinned, pulling out a hanky and handing it over to Lucy. "because I'm sure this will be the just the start of what you'll have to deal with to get through this interview."

Alder shook his head, "No. If I was bothered by something as basic as that I wouldn't have become a reporter. Now, please don't be nervous, Mrs. Black. We're just going to talk."

"I'm doing my best," Lucy assured the reporter, blowing her nose in the hanky, "I don't particularly want to be in this situation at all. If I have to be though, I'm glad there are reporters out there who aren't only interested in sensationalism and that I have friends like Dinah and Severus… and my husband, of course."

"Of course," he encouraged, "Oh, and of course I see that congratulations are in order for both of you," he nodded at Lucy and Dinah in turn. "To be honest, I can't see why Rita sensationalized that particular part of the article at all. It's perfectly normal. Don't repeat this of course but I'd guess five or ten percent of all Hogwarts students were conceived out of wedlock."

"See, I told you," Dinah grinned, nudging her.

Lucy blushed, grinning and nodding at her friend. "Thank you," she told Alder, "I don't understand the outcry either. We were engaged and actively planning our wedding at the time. We just… ended up having to do things a little faster than planned. In part _because_ I want to be a good role model for my students."

"Mm. Good. I'll write that down," he said, producing a pad and quill and beginning to jot down Lucy's words.

"Hey, Alder," Dinah grinned, tapping him on the shoulder and leaning in conspiratorially, "Would you like to use a lime green fwooper quill for that?"

"Hm?" the reporter gave her an odd look.

"Oh, enough," Severus chuckled, "Please do not mind my wife and her childish afflictions brought on by pregnancy and be seated. There's no reason not to do this interview over a meal."

"Don't mind if I do, thank you," he said, seating himself by Lucy.

"You can have what Dinah kept trying to give me," Lucy grinned, "I didn't touch it. Honest."

"Oh. Thank you," he said, taking the plate she slid over, "Don't you have an appetite?"

"She does," Sirius said, "just not at the moment."

"I seem to have developed a tendency for a nervous stomach this pregnancy. It was worse early on but the affliction does choose to return every so often," Lucy admitted.

"I see," he nodded as they all got settled around the table with their meals, "Well, how would you like to go about this? I'm afraid I don't have a lot of time. The lunch hour and maybe a half hour afterwards, to finish up, as I know you and Dinah have breaks. But I would like to get a good solid interview in in that time. Is there anything you'd like to say right off the bat or would you rather I asked the questions?"

"Um, I don't know where a good place to start would be… I suppose asking questions would be fine."

"All right..." he frowned down at his pad of parchment, considering, "Would you agree that the raw _facts_ of what Miss Skeeter reported are true or not? And by facts I mean: You did conceive this child out of wedlock, and you did have a serious breakdown after your husband's initial death which required temporary hospitalization."

"I'm inclined to disagree that it _required_ hospitalization but yes those things did happen. I did conceive my child prior to my marriage. I did have a serious breakdown after Sirius's death and I was placed in hospital to have that issue dealt with."

He nodded, "But you feel that neither of these two situations should bear negatively on your ability to teach and be a role model for young Hogwarts students? I don't disagree with that, but I'd like to hear it in your own words."

"No, I don't," Lucy shook her head, "They clearly have no bearing on whether or not I'm able to effectively share my knowledge with the students of this school or guide them along the proper paths in life. I _can_ advise them if they come to me with personal questions but I can't make their decisions for them. That responsibility shouldn't rest at my feet."

"Understandable. Your first job is to teach the subject you were assigned to teach," Alder said, writing all of that down. "Oh, and if you disagree with any of my comments please interject and tell me, as many of them will go into the article."

"Of course, though I think one of them," Lucy pointed at her three companions, "is more likely to interrupt you and disagree than I am."

"What do you mean by that?" Dinah asked through a mouthful of grilled cheese.

"I think she just means that our Lucy isn't one to build up how great and wonderful we all know she is," Sirius chuckled.

"Oh, well I'll fix that," Dinah insisted, "Go on, ask more questions, Alder."

"All right," he chuckled, "Now... although it is unfortunate, Mrs. Black, at least some small percentage of the Hogwarts students' parents feel that your time spent in St. Mungo's might make you an... unstable influence on their children. Are you willing to explain to me why you reacted the way you did upon your future husband's death, and why you feel you've recovered from that now?"

"Oh, um. My mother was killed when I was eight, almost nine. I never forgot what she looked like because I had pictures. I always knew the kind of person she was because I had my Aunt and Uncle around to tell me. Eventually though I realized I didn't remember what her voice sounded like anymore or what it felt like to have her hug me or just have her near… So when he…" Lucy paused, wiping the tears off her cheeks and gesturing towards Sirius, "I didn't want to forget. I had nothing… to remind me. It felt like if I just didn't… let time move on, then I wouldn't forget. I know that ridiculous but… I couldn't forget. I had to remember."

"I see," Alder murmured sympathetically, "So that desire to... 'stop time' made it so that the way you expressed your grief was so different from the 'norm'?"

"I suppose," Lucy nodded, "I don't think I really cared what was going on around me. That's not to say I wasn't _aware_ of it. I just… wasn't living in the present I guess."

"That's understandable and I do sympathize. No one person's experience of grief is the 'right' one, after all. But how can you prove that you won't break down again? I'm not trying to be cruel but we do have to address these difficult questions if I am to remain unbiased."

"I don't… know. I can't. Not really. It's not as if I went mentally insane though. I just… stopped."

"But you recovered before Sirius was revived," Dinah said, nudging her, "Tell him that."

"Yes, I was much improved by that time," Lucy nodded, "I was still grieving for sure, but I was beginning to move on."

"Your grieving was more 'normal' at that point," he said, writing it down.

"I'd like to cut in there, actually," Dinah said, "And point out the fact that the nature of the rebirths themselves indicated that Sirius wasn't supposed to die. Those were unnatural, wrong deaths - that's why they resisted it and came back. So Lucy was grieving in such an intense way because he wasn't supposed to leave her - it was unnatural and wrong. She wasn't meant to be without him. Can you imagine losing somebody in that sort of situation? I... I can't..." she murmured, taking a brief glance in Severus's direction.

"It hurts," Lucy murmured, "Even more when you realize there was something there… I should have known really," she reached out to place her hand over her husband's, "Even back when we first met. There was something between us that hadn't been there before. With former boyfriends. It's still there now…"

"I'm sorry," Alder said again, "Well, it seems to me that grief or no grief you were never considered a _danger_ to anyone or yourself. Your symptoms where merely the catatonic state, correct? No raving lunacy or the like?"

"No, no, nothing like that. The most danger I could have been to myself was a general lack of interest in caring for myself. Starvation and the like. I'd eat and such when I was reminded to, but I just couldn't manage to do it on my own."

"What was your official diagnosis?"

"Um, I… I'm not sure exactly. Minimally responsive, with symptoms consistent with a catatonic state. I think that's what it was."

"Why aren't you sure? Did you see the paperwork?"

"Briefly. I was… admitted against my will. Though I wasn't really in a state to voice my objections at the time. I discovered I was checked in under the name 'Lucille Ketteridge'. My name isn't Lucille. It's Lucy."

"Mmhm..." he frowned, "That doesn't seem right. According to Rita's article 'friends and family' were forced to place you there... didn't they know your name? As a matter of fact, who _did_ make the decision to institutionalize you? I'm certain Rita knows but now that I think of it if she didn't state who the decision-maker was she probably has some nefarious reason for it."

"That would have been my father. Henley Ketteridge. And he knows my name. He would just have preferred my mother had named me Lucille, which, if you think about it, is rather ironic considering he didn't even want children."

"Your father," Alder stated, and then sighed, "So Rita thinks she can get away with this, does she? I assume you and your father are somewhat estranged in that case? Did any of your other family members know that you were placed in St. Mungo's by him?"

"Not for quite awhile and when they did find out… I wasn't allowed visitors. I haven't discovered any reasoning for that; aside from that they couldn't have me discharged seeing as my father was my next of kin and was legally allowed to do what he did. Also, being admitted under the wrong name created a few problems."

"Yes, I can imagine," Alder nodded, "Really, this seems more like a logistical and family issue than anything else. But we know how Rita likes her sensationalism. Combating it can be tricky..." he considered; "Well, why did they ultimately release you or do you know?"

"Not exactly, no. The Healer who signed the discharge papers… he was one of the ones who knew I didn't need to be there. That's not to say the Healers there didn't help at all. I think they did. I just… I didn't want to be there. I was being labeled as… crazy, insane. I… I'm not. I was in the same ward with people like Gilderoy Lockhart and Frank and Alice Longbottom. I shouldn't have been there. Augusta Longbottom did take a liking to me as her son and daughter-in-law did like to visit with me for some reason. A part of me likes to think maybe she had something to do with it. I'm not sure of how much of that should go into your article though. The majority of the people in there _need_ to be. Their privacy deserves to be protected unless it's okay with their families I think."

"All right," he agreed, "I think I can work with that. The most relevant parts are those about you and whether you belonged there or not anyway."

"If I can interject," Dinah said, "I've had some training in Muggle psychology and I really think more than anything Lucy was just suffering from a very deep depression. And yes, granted, sometimes people should be hospitalized for that but in the proper wards and certainly not all alone. I bet she would have started to recover a lot sooner if she had been with loving family, or at least had the privilege of being visited by them."

"I agree with Dinah," Sirius said, "The only reason Molly even contacted Henley was because she thought he had the right to know. That if it had been her child she would want someone to tell her."

"She only wanted what was best for me and… the war was getting worse… she couldn't have devoted all her time to caring for me. I wouldn't have wanted her to anyway," Lucy added. "She already feels bad enough because of what happened."

"She didn't expect your father would do something like he did?" Alder asked.

"No," Lucy shook her head, "I don't think she even expected him to answer really. We'd only seen each other maybe once since I'd left Hogwarts. There is no love lost between us, Mr. Alder. Henley has always made it perfectly clear he never wanted a child and nothing I could do would ever be good enough to make up for my mother's mistake."

"Mm," Alder agreed grimly, sympathy in his eyes again. But he also looked annoyed, "This is potentially off-the-record but do you suspect, then that he is Rita's source of information?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, "Lucy admitted, "but at the same time he hates bad publicity, anything that can ruin his reputation. Then again, maybe this is his way of finally getting rid of me for good or something. Decimating my life so completely I crawl into a cave and don't come out. Not that I would literally do that of course."

Dinah gave a sad sigh and Alder shook his head. Severus seemed to be in deep contemplation of his tomato soup and Sirius wrapped and arm around her shoulders. Finally, Alder shrugged, setting down his quill, "Well, this seems pretty cut and dry to me. We've covered both your pregnancy and your institutionalization and to me it seems pretty normal, certainly not worth Rita's sensationalism. After all, you haven't had any more of these bouts since your husband's revival, correct?"

Lucy caught the nervous gazes of her friends and husband land on her.

"Um..." Dinah hesitated.

"Well..." Lucy stammered.

"Hmm," Alder frowned at them, raising a suspicious eyebrow, "If there's something you need to disclose you'd better do it now. Better I address it than Rita Skeeter."

"Um…" Lucy said, imitating Dinah, "It's going to make me sound like I'm _actually _crazy."

"No, no," Dinah assured, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Just tell him. It's better than it coming out some other way, right? I mean, if we ever talk about it and someone or some... creature heard..." she gave her a significant look.

"Well, yes… It was in connection with everything that happened last year… with Dinah…" Lucy started.

"It was a rough year," Dinah threw in, "For both of us. There were the things going on, you know, the threats and dark storms... and Lucy was still getting used to Sirius's rebirth and trying to deal with the fear that it might all go away. She got frightened when he was away and there was a storm, and... had another brief episode. But it was fine!" she rushed in on the tail end of it, "Sirius came back, assured her he was alive and well. But Lucy's improved so much since then, you have no idea. Just because a person is recovering from a trauma or a depression doesn't mean they should get sacked from their job, does it? I don't think so. Especially if they can still do said job just fine. Dumbledore trusted her for it, and Minerva does now. In fact, you should interview her."

"Yes, that's right," Lucy agreed, nodding towards Dinah.

"Was it storming the night of Mr. Black's original death? Was that why you relapsed?"

"I… don't know," Lucy shrugged, "I wasn't there and that was part of the problem. I felt guilty because I wasn't there. I had been out of the country and Dumbledore had owled me to return early. I was nearly done with the task he'd assigned me, so I ignored him until I was done. I stopped to see my cousin Charlie on the way back and that's… when I found out."

"I suppose that adds another level to it, then..." Alder nodded, "But it still doesn't explain what triggered the relapse. Why did you think your husband was in danger just because he was away?"

Lucy started shaking her head vigorously, "No. I… I don't want to… I don't want to _think_ about it."

"Lucy," Sirius calmly murmured, rubbing her back, "It's okay."

"No," she insisted, turning to look at him and crying again, "It's _not_ okay. Nothing about this is okay. I… I can't. It doesn't matter who you are or where you are; hearing voices is _not_ normal."

"I heard them," Dinah said.

"Excuse me?" Alder turned to look at her, "_You_ heard them too?"

"As did I," Severus muttered, "They were associated with the dark storms and very real."

"I heard… I heard Be…"

"She heard Bellatrix Lestrange," Sirius finished for her, "She heard that woman saying things, phrases, she'd been known to say frequently in life. Things Lucy would have no way of knowing. Taunts she would throw at Harry, bits of conversations with Voldemort. A number of them would sound threatening towards me. My cousin was a little… unbalanced and we never did get on well."

"This is... rather complicated," Alder muttered, "Though I do recall you explaining or trying to explain bits and pieces of this last year, Dinah."

She nodded, "I really don't think that whole thing needs to be brought out again. People are satisfied that it's over. The main thing is that those phrases, Bellatrix Lestrange's voice, they were associated with the dark presence related to Voldemort because she had been so closely associated with him when alive. That's not so far-fetched, is it? With the things we've seen in the past war? The things magic can do?"

"I suppose not, though it will be complex to write out, but I think I can do something about this," he nodded, and then chuckled, "I don't have to be a sensationalist. I get enough pleasure out of bursting Rita's bubble by getting ahead of her and preventing _her_ from being the sensationalist. You'd be surprised how fun it is making that woman mad."

"I wouldn't be," Dinah mumbled.

"Anything we can do to annoy that… pest is welcome in my book," Sirius added.

"Good," he chuckled again, "All right... I can't think of anything else specific to _ask_. But is there anything you think I still need to know about, Mrs. Black? Anything important you've left out? Because if Rita gets to it before me..."

"I don't think so…" Lucy said, trying to recall anything else, "If I think of something I can be sure to owl you or have Dinah owl you as soon as possible."

"Mmmhmm," he nodded, "Now, before I go try and speak with the headmistress, do any of the rest of you have further comments about Mrs. Black's character and teaching ability?"

"I think I've said my piece," Dinah said, turning to her husband, "Severus?"

"Hmph," he snorted, turning to Alder, "I will say one thing. That growing up in a negative family situation is hardly her fault nor does it have any bearing on her ability to do her job."

"You know, that could be construed as two things," Dinah teased, but looked exceedingly proud of her husband for his statement, even when he smirked in response.

Lucy was so touched she got up out of her chair and walked around the table to wrap her arms around the grouchy man, "Thank you."

"I- you- well-" Severus stammered, clearing his throat in Lucy's ear and obviously not having been at all prepared for this, "Ah... you're welcome..." he muttered, drawing away to turn back to his food, apparently too embarrassed to make eye contact.

"So, um," Lucy giggled, releasing Severus and going to sit back down, "was there anything else I can do for you Mr. Alder?"

"I don't think so, though I do have some extra time so if you'd like to point me towards anyone else I should interview please do so. Oh, and I'd like to get at least a few more statements from you, Mr. Black, and clarify your statement Professor Snape."

"What needs to be clarified?" Severus demanded.

"Er... well..." Alder balked a little, "You were speaking in a more passive, general way. Your official statement on Lucy's teaching ability is, then..."

Severus heaved a growly sigh, "She is a perfectly satisfactory teacher and is and always has been adequately able to convey and disseminate her knowledge on her subject to the class. Now may I please finish my meal in peace?"

"Oh… of course. Thank you," Alder mumbled, writing this down.

"He's only got two bites left," Dinah teased, nudging Lucy.

"Shhh. If we talk it won't be a peaceful two bites."

"Mr. Black? Your comments?" Alder turned to Sirius.

"Lucy is dedicated. I've seen her work on assignments and grading late into the night. She makes sure she reads everything she assigns. She cares about her students. I've seen the way she listens to them… they respect her…"

"Yes, that's so true," Dinah gushed on, nodding vigorously as Alder wrote stuff down.

The reporter chuckled, shaking his head, before saying in a gentle but stern tone, "Yes, we _know_ you love Mrs. Black, Dinah, but I've got plenty of statements to that effect from you already. You can let others have a turn now. I can already tell you're going to agree with everything positive."

"Oh," Dinah blushed, turning to her plate and poking a finger at her second sandwich, "Sorry."

"It's all right," Lucy grinned, "I appreciate the comments, even if Mr. Alder can't use them."

Sirius chuckled, shaking his head at Dinah, "I'm not sure what else I can say that hasn't already been said, Mr. Alder."

"All right, then I'll continue on. Is there anyone you'd like me to try to speak with, then, Mrs. Black?"

"Well, Professor McGonagall as was mentioned, any of the other staff would be fine I'm sure. Maybe Agrona and Derwent, both seventh year Slytherin students. Oh, and Tad, he's also a Slytherin, fourth year. Jania's a fourth year Hufflepuff. Dinah, do you think Mae…?"

"I think absolutely Mae," Dinah nodded, looking over at Alder, "You remember her from when I was being questioned last year?"

"Of course. She was quite an enthusiastic little girl, too, with her quieter friend," Alder nodded, writing down all the names Lucy had mentioned, "I'll try and get their schedules from Minerva and catch them on the way to class or by the Great Hall or their common rooms. I don't have a lot of time, so I can't guarantee I'll catch them all but I'll do my best."

"That sounds reasonable. You, ah, might want to avoid Mae's friend, Lisette. I don't know. She recently withdrew from my class…"

"I see," Alder frowned, to Lucy's chagrin writing this down, "I will try to avoid her specifically, but I was about to say that I will have to interview a fairly random crop of students in addition to the ones you listed. If I appear too biased, people won't take the article seriously, so I need to at least acknowledge the existence of negative opinion. But please don't worry... I will still paint you in a very positive light."

"Thank you. And I know you need opinions from all sides. It's fine. I mean if you want to speak to her…"

"As I said, I won't seek her out, but if I don't stumble upon her at least I'll have to make mention of the fact that she dropped the class."

"I understand and I'm actually curious what her reasoning for that was. She didn't really comment on that much."

Alder nodded finishing off the last of his sandwich and setting his napkin down, standing from the table, "If I run into her, I'll do my best to find out. Thank you for lunch Dinah, Professor Snape," he nodded at them in turn, then moved to Sirius and Lucy, "Mr. and Mrs. Black, thank you for granting me this interview and I hope everything works out for the best for you both."

"Thank you again," Lucy nodded, "It… makes me feel better that… even though I didn't want to do this at least there's someone out there willing to present just the facts. Not making a bigger deal out of something than what should be."

"I do my best," he said kindly, "Good luck."

"Well," Lucy sighed as Severus walked Alder out to the hall, "that was… not that bad. I'm hungry. Is there anything left to eat?"

"You're hungry!" Dinah shrieked, throwing an impromptu hug around her shoulders, "And yes, there's _tons_ to eat. Grilled cheese and tomato soup and..." she trailed, yawning.

"Oh, you're tired. We should go," Lucy said, feeling her heart sink a little. She'd been looking forward to spending some time with her friend but… maybe a nap would be good. She could feel herself starting to droop as the stress began to leave her body.

"Oh, you don't need to feel like you have to rush off or anything, it's just been a... long few days," Dinah finished, yawning again at the end of it, "What with Sev's birthday and all..."

"If we go you can take a nap," Lucy insisted.

"Well, okay," she smiled, latching onto Severus's arm when he came in.

"And what's this about?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Lucy says I can take a nap," Dinah beamed.

Lucy giggled, "I did say that, though I don't think you need _my_ permission."

"If you're going to go, take a couple sandwiches with you, please," Dinah said, yawning again, "You said you were hungry."

"Yes, I did," Lucy agreed, scooping up a couple sandwiches, "We'll see you later. Thanks for doing this for me."

"You're so welcome," Dinah said, bidding her farewell, "Hopefully tomorrow there's a nice article by Alder in the _Daily Prophet_ to help your situation along."

"Yes, I hope so," Lucy agreed, saying goodbye to both Snapes again as Sirius led her out of their rooms, closing the door behind them.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Sitting at breakfast in the Great Hall, Lucy looked up as a delivery owl dropped the _Daily Prophet _down in front of her. "Sirius look," she said, pointing to the headline , _The Judgment of Professor Lucy Black: Have We Learned Nothing from the Past?_ "It's Alder's article."

"Well, open it up and read it," Sirius encouraged, "See what Alder had to say."

That was all it took for Lucy to unfold the paper and read the article all about her.

_As a society that has just recently emerged from a great Wizarding war that was built upon mistrust and judgment of others based on blood status, I find it appalling that we are still so quick to make assumptions about our fellow witches and wizards without all the facts at our disposal._

_Recently, as I'm sure readers know, it was reported that Professor Lucy Black, instructor of the course "Wizarding Literature" at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had been temporarily institutionalized in the mental ward of St. Mungo's before beginning work there. While this fact is undeniably true, the hype surrounding it is quite unwarranted, as many other facts I have uncovered surrounding her stay there prove that Professor Black is anything but 'crazy'. He estranged father, Henley Ketteridge, placed her in the wrong ward under a false name, making it difficult to release her when few other individuals knew of her unjust 'incarceration'. But we will explore this in more detail later._

_The previous article, and some others before it, have also expressed judgment on Mrs. Black's conception of the child she is currently pregnant with out of wedlock. While this, also, is the truth, I am surprised at the level of outcry it has incurred. After all, this is the twenty-first century and situations of this sort are not all that uncommon. Data from the Ministry of Magic suggests that between five and fifteen percent of all births each year are initiated out of wedlock, although ninety-nine percent of those couples do marry before the child is born as Professor Black and her husband Sirius did. As for whether this would have a positive or negative influence on the students she teaches, the point is moot, as more than one Hogwarts student has expressed to me that Professor Black kept her personal life out of the classroom. Therefore, this problem would have been irrelevant had my colleague Miss Skeeter not brought it forward for the whole world to see._

_Not only that, but what has our press come to when we refuse to interview the person of concern when they are fully accessible and instead only report on hearsay from those who are barely familiar with them? Yes, there are some questionable elements in Professor Lucy Black's past, but what one of us can honestly say that we don't have our own experiences just like them? If not exactly the same, then at least the same in nature: past regrets or past unfortunate circumstances that we desperately hope won't get out for fear that people will come to the wrong conclusions? Lucy Black is no different._

_Only a year ago we were facing a similar issue with Mrs. Black's close friend, Professor Dinah Snape, who was revealed as a parselmouth in the midst of threatening activity at the school. Again, despite the fact that we should have learned from experience, our world jumped to conclusions and was quick to alienate Dinah Snape. We all realize now that that was a mistake, given her assistance in eliminating said threatening activity. So are we, as a society, again jumping to the wrong conclusions about Lucy Black?_

_I was able to meet with both Mr. and Mrs. Black, as well as their friends professors Severus and Dinah Snape, in a telling interview that explained a good deal of the controversy and questions surrounding her story. Lucy Black lost her mother at a young age, and enjoyed a strained relationship with her father, who she explained to me had never wanted children. When she lost her future husband during his temporary death in the war, she again experienced feelings related to the loss of her mother._ _Specifically, she feared losing some of her memories of Mr. Black over time. Her solution? Stop time. This, she explains, is why she fell into the deep depression with features of a catatonic state that ultimately had her father sending her to St. Mungo's without disclosing that fact to any of the rest of her family, which includes the Weasley family of second wizarding war fame._

_"I really think… Lucy was just suffering from a very deep depression," says close friend Professor Dinah Snape, "…Sometimes people should be hospitalized for that but in the proper wards and certainly not all alone. I bet she would have started to recover a lot sooner if she had been with loving family, or at least had the privilege of being visited by them." Similarly, Mrs. Black states that "The Healer who signed the discharge papers… knew I didn't need to be there… I was being labeled as…crazy, insane…I'm not."_

_That same evening, I took time out of my schedule to visit St. Mungo's and confirm this with the aforementioned Healer, Ryan Cropper, a well-respected individual in his profession. "No, she didn't belong in our ward," says Cropper, "She was suffering from an intense depression and yes, there were issues there, but she was never a danger to others and she certainly wasn't insane. Only sad." Unfortunately, "…logistical issues surrounding her being admitted under the wrong name prevented us from discharging her when we would have liked to, or from transferring her to a more suitable ward. I still regret that."_

_Hogwarts Headmistress Professor Minerva McGonagall also confirmed with me that Professor Black has never been a danger and certainly is not a danger now to her students in any capacity. "If Lucy were to lose her position here at Hogwarts due to this hyped-up, needless gossip, I will be very displeased," says McGonagall, "I have never known her to be anything less than a wonderful teacher. I have absolutely no intentions of sacking her and if the Board of Governors has the gall to force me into it they will lose all my respect."_ _Similarly, Professor Severus Snape, certainly a harsh critic when it comes to academic matters, states that "She is a perfectly satisfactory teacher and is and always has been adequately able to convey and disseminate her knowledge on her subject to the class," and, "…growing up in a negative family situation is hardly her fault nor does it have any bearing on her ability to do her job."_

_This all ties back in to her relationship with father Henley Ketteridge, the likely source of Rita Skeeter's information on the St. Mungo's incident, which when looked at in the proper light was really not an incident at all. Even so, some members of the student body and their parents are convinced that Professor Black is not adequately suited to continue teaching at Hogwarts. But for what reason? One student who wished to remain unnamed explained that they are afraid Professor Black may 'go crazy' in class and cause them harm, and at least one other student has dropped Wizarding Literature for that very reason. But given the information presented above, is a dangerous psychotic break really likely to happen to this unfairly accused instructor? I find it highly doubtful myself._

_Even so, Hufflepuff student Eldon "Don" Comstock, brought up the fact that Professor Black appeared to have an 'episode' during her fourth years course, breaking down in tears before the student body. However, another Hufflepuff from that same class, Miss Jania Whitehorn, believes it was due to pregnancy hormones and continues to insist that Professor Black is one of the greatest teachers and human beings she has ever known. At least two other 'episodes' where Professor Black broke down came up in my research. Professor McGonagall recalls a brief return to the catatonic state early last school year, when Professor Black, then Ketteridge, was just beginning her work._

_"However," the headmistress says, "She recovered quickly with a little kind encouragement from Professor Dumbledore and the love of her future husband, friends, and family."_

_The second episode revolved around the dark magic that was surrounding the school last year. As has been reported previously, some remaining evil associated with Lord Voldemort was present, and with it, as Dinah Snape reports, was the evil of Bellatrix Lestrange, murderer of Mr. Black and close confidant of the dark wizard. During their attempts to combat the evil, both she and her husband Severus Snape insist that they were witness to the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange speaking at various points. Sirius Black says that her words were simply repeats of words she had spoken when alive, and when Mrs. Black heard one of these statements that appeared to suggest threat to her husband, she again reverted to her frozen state. Again, however, she recovered quickly with her husband's encouragement._

_So in short, yes, there have been relapses. But in neither of these instances was Professor Black an obvious danger to anyone. In addition, this year no such incidents have occurred, and Professor Dinah Snape believes that is because her friend has come along well in her recovery. Again, many people have emotional issues. Should they all be sacked from their jobs because of it? Is that not a bit of a stretch?_

_And to those who counter that Mrs. Black's issues are disproportionate to those of normal grief, Dinah Snape also points out that "…the nature of the rebirths themselves indicated that Sirius wasn't supposed to die. Those were unnatural, wrong deaths - that's why they [some of those who died] resisted it and came back. So Lucy was grieving in such an intense way because he wasn't supposed to leave her… Can you imagine losing somebody in that sort of situation?" she asks, turning a sad look to her husband, who had also been reborn, but before she had met him "... I can't."_

_Headmistress Minerva McGonagall was kind enough to show me some positive letters she has received over the past week regarding Professor Black. They include correspondence from both students and their parents, and almost equally number the negative correspondence. One letter, received just yesterday from Mrs. Kyoko Yates, mother of Muggle-born second-year Ravenclaw Mae Yates, states that she met Lucy Black in London last summer in a Muggle department store with Dinah Snape, and that "Mrs. Black, or Miss Ketteridge then I suppose, seemed like a very kind young woman to me and my daughter only speaks positively about her experiences in class with her._ _In my opinion, the choices she makes in her personal life have no bearing whatever on her ability to teach her students. Mae is very happy in her class, and I trust my daughter's judgment on that. I still know little about the Wizarding world but it seems quite unfair to me to sack the poor woman for any of the reasons suggested, if she is as good a teacher as that."_

_In case some of you are wondering, it is not just the Muggle parents that feel this way. Mrs. Hortense Peaks, mother of pureblood Slytherin Septimus Peaks, writes, "It would be appalling for those single-minded individuals [The Hogwarts Board of Governors] to sack Mrs. Lucy Black of the most noble and illustrious House of Black, simply because she's had one episode or another or conceived a child out of wedlock." With that, I think we've covered parents from both extremes fairly well._ _And a number of other parents in the middle have expressed similar feelings. Half-blood Slytherin Miss Agrona Huntingdon, who has recently come of age, also writes to Headmistress McGonagall that "Professor Lucy Black has been an inspiration to both me and my boyfriend. She helped us through some very tough times last year and has always been not only an excellent professor but also a friend. And I will be _furious_ if anyone has the nerve to try and sack her."_

_It is clear that this is a complex situation with many varying points of view – or is it? What is complex about exaggerating one or two very human problems of a single Professor and inflating them to the point where she is under consideration of being sacked just because she has experienced things that could have been experienced by anyone? I ask the readers to make that judgment, but I leave you with two quotes right from the source, Mr. Sirius Black and Professor Lucy Black themselves. According to Mr. Black: "Lucy is dedicated. I've seen her work on assignments and grading late into the night. She makes sure she reads everything she assigns. She cares about her students. I've seen the way she listens to them…they respect her."_

_And for those of you parents who are concerned that Professor Black's childbearing and lifestyle choices could negatively impact or influence their children, this is what that professor in concern has to say: "They clearly have no bearing on whether or not I'm able to effectively share my knowledge with the students of this school or guide them along the proper paths in life. I can advise them if they come to me with personal questions but I can't make their decisions for them," Lucy Black says, a calm, professional expression on her face, "That responsibility shouldn't rest at my feet."_

"Oh," Lucy said, feeling tears spring up in her eyes, "This is just so… nice and fair and…" She held up the paper and waved it over at where the Snapes were sitting, wondering if her friends had gotten a chance to read the article yet.

Dinah beamed and waved back, pointing at the paper as though to say they weren't quite finished reading it yet, but were very happy with what they saw so far.

All around the Great Hall they could see students with their heads bent over their papers, whispering to each other, looking up towards the staff table and pointing. For the first time Lucy was beginning to think she'd have some of the general population on her side, that it wouldn't be her and a select few against a world intent on feasting upon her blood… so to speak.

It was a good feeling. It was… happy.

So happy that the moment Dinah appeared to be done reading the paper, Lucy dragged Sirius over to her friends. "Wasn't that a good article? It actually made me seem normal," she beamed.

"Oh, yes!" Dinah sighed dreamily, her hands clasped to her cheek, "Isn't Alder wonderful? Did you read that one part about me? Didn't he make me sound just so dramatic and romantic?" She appeared rather star-struck, whereas the look Severus was giving her was decidedly suspicious.

"You came off brilliant Dinah!" Lucy praised.

"Oh, and you did, too, of course," Dinah emphasized, sighing again, "I told you Alder could do it. Isn't he a genius? I think I'm in love!"

"Hmph," Severus snorted.

Their interplay made Lucy giggle, "Are you sure, Dinah? I think your husband might have something to say about it."

"Oh, he'll get over it. I can have a crush on Alder if I want to," Dinah teased, nudging her grouchy spouse, "A little bit of jealousy will be good for him."

"Doesn't Dylan cover that quota?" Lucy grinned.

"Old boyfriends definitely count," Sirius grumbled.

She chuckled, reaching to squeeze her husband's hand, "Maybe you two have got a point there. But it's okay, he knows I love him."

"In my experience that doesn't matter," Lucy teased, "Remember the discussion we had when Gawain was here before?"

"Mm," Severus grunted, "And it pains me to say it, but Sirius had the right idea."

"See? Dylan fills the jealous quota," Lucy smiled, leaning down to hug Dinah, "Feel like you're getting to know the normal Lucy yet?"

Dinah squeezed her back with the childlike enthusiasm that had recently begun to accompany her pregnancy, but Lucy could tell her happiness was genuine, "Yes. And if you think so, then it must be true, too," she drew back and smiled, "I'm so glad that article set things straight. I really hope things get better for you now."

"Thanks. Me too," Lucy said, dabbing at her eyes, "You… all of you, made sure I knew I wasn't alone, but now it feels like people are actually listening. Before, with the Board of Governors, whether they contacted me directly or through Minerva… it didn't matter what I said. They didn't care. Now… maybe they'll care, maybe they'll hear."

"I really, really hope so Lucy," Dinah encouraged, "And I think so. I really do."


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter 66

"I'll see you for dinner. Have a good class," Sirius said, dropping Lucy off at her classroom Thursday after lunch.

"Okay," she grinned and waddled into the room to await her students.

He took a quick turn and headed down towards the dungeon rooms the Snapes shared. Neither one had been at lunch and a part of him hoped that he'd be interrupting them indulging in a little… afternoon delight. On the other hand he didn't want to walk in on that in any way.

He knocked hard on the dark door that led into Severus's office. After lunch both he and Dinah had a break and so Sirius was nearly positive they were in their rooms.

There was no answer.

Sirius knocked louder and longer. They _would_ answer him.

After a few moments he heard some storming and shuffling about. He waited patiently. Then the door slammed open and he was greeted with Severus Snape demanding, "What do you want?"

"Oh!" Dinah exclaimed next to her husband, "It's you, Sirius." The two appeared put-together, clothes-wise, but their faces were a bit flushed and Dinah was awkwardly tucking a stray strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes back out of the way, looking sheepish.

"Did I interrupt something?" he smirked.

"Wh-what makes you say that?" Dinah asked with a nervous giggle. Severus just growled.

"I've been interrupted enough over the years to know the signs," he said casually.

"Oh," she turned beet red, waddling over to hide behind her husband, her hands and eyes just peeking over his shoulder.

"What do you _want_?" Severus repeated, teeth bared.

"To talk," he said succinctly, "about Lucy."

"Is everything okay?" Dinah asked, her voice muffled by Severus's bat-like robes but her tone clearly concerned, "Yesterday she said her classes seemed to be going well."

"Yeah, they're going fine. She's as happy as could be right now. I think the Board of Governors and Henley are still on her mind, but it's not consuming her anymore. I wanted to talk about her birthday. It's next week."

"Oh, yes," Dinah finally consented to emerge from her hiding place, Severus watching her with a slight raised eyebrow, "I know. I already got her a nice gift. You know, to make up for last year like I said."

"She's really not worried about that, Dinah," Sirius tried to assure the pregnant woman, "But I… Can I come in?"

"I suppose there's no stopping you now," Severus grumbled, still ornery as he stepped back to allow Sirius access. They headed back into the living quarters and seated themselves. From his perch on one of the chairs across from the green sofa, Sirius could see that neither of them had remembered to close the bedroom door. The bed on the other side was disheveled and the floor at the foot of it strewn with undergarments. He chose to assume that they'd put new pairs on before coming to the door.

He cleared his throat and forced his eyes back over to the couple. "Anyway, I was thinking we could throw her a surprise party. Her actual birthday's on Thursday and we've got plans on the weekend to celebrate with the Weasleys and Lupins. Harry and Ron can't get that weekend off but… Ginny and Hermione are already planning on attending that party. They said something about having a grading party or something so they won't be here either… it'd just be the four of us."

"A surprise party with four people. Brilliant. Ow!" Severus finished his sarcastic remark with an exclamation and glare in Dinah's direction when she elbowed him.

"We would love to. That sounds like so much fun. Maybe we could invite her student friends again. Do you think she'd like that? You know, Jania and Agrona and their boyfriends?"

"That'd be great," Sirius nodded, "Maybe Mae and the boy she hangs around with a lot. Sorry, I don't know his name. She was really grateful that Mae offered to write that letter and have her Mum write one too. I could invite Gabrielle Delacour too."

"Okay," Dinah smiled, "I'm sure they'd love to come. Andrew. Andrew is his name. He's really a nice boy; he's been learning a lot in Muggle Studies. He comes from a pureblood family kind of like yours was, Sirius... but he's starting to realize that their views aren't quite right."

"If he's pureblood we're probably related. As long as my family considered his 'pure enough' that is. It'll probably be good to have him come socialize with some normal people then. We can have it at our place. I'll just have to get Lucy out of the rooms for awhile. Would it be okay if I had stuff sent here? Presents, decorations, a cake and the like?"

"Our home is already full of child things that have not been placed into a nursery yet. I suppose a few more items won't make much difference," Severus grumbled.

"Mm," Dinah agreed, "You know we really should get to putting together that nursery."

"Lucy's got ours all set up. Painted, decorated, and everything put just where she wants it. You can get a surprising amount done when you're not busy being… distracted by certain idle pursuits," he teased.

"Oh... " Dinah said again, blushing and twiddling her fingers. Severus cleared his throat and glanced over in the direction of the dining table, apparently fascinated with it.

"Well, I'll leave you to get back to whatever it was you were doing," Sirius said, standing, "I'll see you Thursday say around eight o'clock? I'll get Lu to take a walk or something straight after dinner, if you two wouldn't mind sneaking in early and setting up? I assume Dinah still has the spare key Lucy gave her. Oh, and I'm not sure I'll see the students we wanted to invite so if you wouldn't mind, Dinah…? Just to be sure."

Dinah nodded, "I can do the invitations. They're all in my classes this year so it'll be easy. Is there anything else? Should I buy anything?"

"No, no. I can't think of anything, but if there's something specific you want feel free."

"Okay. Well, I'll think about it. It might be fun to have some Muggle snacks around. You know how Lucy gets fascinated with them," she chuckled.

"All sorts of Muggle things," he agreed, thinking back to the Muggle protection they'd tried earlier in the school year. It had been a rather enjoyable experience… and not necessarily because of the protection either.

"Then I look forward to the party," Dinah smiled.

"Excellent," he grinned, "Enjoy the rest of your break."

"We will if you stay well away from us," Severus snarled.

"Be nice," Dinah nudged him, blushing some more, "You have a good day, Sirius."

"You too," he said, exiting and closing the door behind him.

* * *

><p>All through the week there'd been a back and forth happening in the 'Letter to the Editor' section of both the <em>Daily<em> and _Evening Prophet._ The comments actually amused Lucy more than anything, with such gems as:

_"It is obvious that the author of the recent article about Lucy Black was requested by the woman in concern for the sole sake of clearing her name. Therefore, it is biased." – RS._

_"Is it any more biased than reporting on an incident without even making an effort to interview the people in concern? Last I checked that wasn't journalism." - SA._

At dinner this evening there was another equally amusing dig from Rita Skeeter, clearly the RS in the paper. "Sirius, listen to this," Lucy snorted, laughing so much she'd hardly taken a bite of her food, "'The original articles written in regards to Lucy Black were nothing but the truth and obviously came from a reliable source. –RS'. That was in the morning edition. Now, there's a reply. 'I'm not sure how one could get a more reliable source than the subject of the article. –SA'. I can't wait to see what Dinah has to say about this."

"Why don't you let Dinah finish her dinner. You know how she hates to miss meals," Sirius suggested, grinning.

"But she doesn't mind if I go talk to her," Lucy insisted, pushing her chair back.

"No, no, no," Sirius insisted, putting a hand on her arm to keep her from rising just yet, "I'd like to finish dinner with my wife. You and Dinah have been spending practically every meal together cackling over those little notes in the _Prophet_. I thought we'd take a walk out to the Quidditch pitch after dinner. You know, relive some fantastic memories from last year."

"Well, I highly doubt you can lift me anymore for one thing," Lucy grinned. She did like the idea of going down there and reminiscing though.

"Ah, I planned on making any necessary adjustments."

"And by that of course you mean nothing more than some possibly intense snogging right?" she giggled.

"Oh, I don't think there's any possibly about it. With us it's _always_ intense."

Lucy obligingly ate the rest of her dinner. Clearly her husband had something up his sleeve for her birthday. She was content to let him have his fun though and she had no clue what he could possibly have set up at the pitch. "I'm ready to go now," she said, "but I want to stop and show Agrona and Derwent the paper first, okay?"

Sirius just stood and helped Lucy up out of her chair before leading her over to the Slytherin table where Amedeus sat, Agrona and Derwent nowhere to be found.

"Did Agrona and Derwent leave already?"

"Yeah," the Hogwarts Champion said, looking up, "They said something about getting some work done. I'm going to meet them… in the library a little later."

"Oh," Lucy said, a little disappointed, "I just wondered if they saw the latest letter in the paper."

"We did," the seventh year grinned, "Skeeter thinks she can one-up Alder but he just keeps knocking her back down. It's awesome."

"I'm sure we'll see them later," Sirius said, putting a hand on Lucy's back.

"Right," Lucy nodded, "Well, enjoy the rest of your dinner and good luck on that work later."

"Thanks. Oh, by the way. Happy birthday, professor."

"Thank you! That's so nice. Everyone's been remarkably nice to me today," she beamed.

Sirius chuckled and kissed her cheek, "Maybe that's because you're a nice person? Or you deserve it?" When she just blushed he continued, "Why don't we get going on that walk? Don't want to be out too late."


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter 67

"Mmm," Lucy moaned, leaning up against the wall where they'd had their encounter under the Quidditch stands almost a year ago. Between them One kicked out at where Sirius was in contact with her ever expanding middle. "I don't think One approves," she giggled.

"The kid'll just have to get used to it," he said, "because I don't think I can stop."

"Well, we're going to have to sooner or later," she insisted, "I'd rather not be out here _all_ night. Being pregnant tends to take a lot out of you. I'm thinking about going to bed early."

"You don't even want cake and your present?" Sirius asked, still kissing her but now the sensations were softer, more subdued as if they were coming slowly down from dizzying heights.

"Oh, well, maybe," she allowed, "but we could do that in bed. Then you could give me one of those wonderful massages of yours."

"I am shocked," Sirius teased, starting to walk them back towards the castle, "Since when do _you_ not want to peek at a present or even wait patiently to open it?"

"Maybe I already peeked," she grinned.

"I doubt it," he chuckled. They continued teasing each other as they made their way across the snow-covered grounds. A part of Lucy wished she could transform into her fox and race across the landscape, messing up all the fresh, pristine snow. She missed her fox but she'd willingly give that up for her child, each and every one of them, because she knew they were going to have more than one. How many she wasn't sure yet but more than one.

"That fire's going to be nice," Sirius said as they entered the castle and headed towards their rooms.

"In theory," Lucy agreed, "I've been so warm lately… Poppy says that's a normal side effect of being pregnant though. Half my students won't sit in the front of the class anymore because I've got the windows open."

"You sleep with the window open too," he teased, reaching out to open their door.

The door opened and Sirius stepped back to allow her in first. All of Lucy's senses were assaulted at once. Loud shouts of, "Surprise!" crashed against her as people popped out from beneath and behind things. Well, everyone but Severus, who was standing near Dinah, arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face. The reason for the scowl was obvious. There were 'Happy Birthday' decorations everywhere and Dinah, along with Agrona, Jania, Mae, and Gabrielle, were throwing streamers at her face.

A party? For her? That was… It was so… She started crying.

"Lucy!" Sirius exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her after he closed the door, "It's okay."

"Don't worry, Sirius, I _think_ those are happy tears," Dinah assured, waddling over to give Lucy her own big hug.

Lucy turned, returning her friends hug and nodding, "Yes, they are. It's just… It's really all for me?"

"Yes!" Jania bounded over, "Of course it's for you, Professor!"

"Thank you," she smiled through her tears. Looking around she saw that Derwent, Amedeus, Tad, and Andrew were also in attendance. "I've never had a surprise party before."

"Well then this should be great fun!" Dinah smiled, "We have all sorts of things planned, from food, to events, to presents."

"And every step of the way will be as colorful and frivolous as your surprise greeting, I've been assured," Severus droned, glaring at the remains of the streamers that had been thrown.

"Really?" she asked, excitement growing as the teased slowed to a stop.

"Still want to go to bed early?" Sirius grinned, looking rather like he must have as a young boy with his hands in his pockets.

"You did this?" she asked her husband.

"I had the idea," he admitted, "Dinah helped get everything together."

"Oh, that's… just so lovely," she said, tears filling her eyes again, though she managed to keep them from falling.

"No," Gabrielle said in her accented English, "No crying. This iz a 'appy time. We shall 'ave plenty of fun and you shall be showered with gifts and affection, no?"

"So, what'll we do first?" Agrona asked, "Professor Snape said… Professor Snape had stuff planned…"

Dinah giggled, waddling over to grasp her husband's arm, "Isn't having the same name fun?"

"To you, _everything_ is 'fun'," he grumbled.

"Stop being a party pooper. You know what I realized? Aside from Sirius, every single one of the males in this room is a Slytherin! You should be right in your own element! Every time one of them says something nice to Lucy you can give them five points!"

"I like that idea," Andrew offered, before sneezing.

"Oh, Sirius should feel right at home. Ninety-six percent of his family was in Slytherin," Lucy giggled, "But we can't forget our Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw friends! We should give them points too. In fact apart from Sirius there aren't any Gryffindors here. That doesn't seem very fair or balanced though…"

"No... but I can pretend to be a half-time Gryffindor again just for today!" Dinah perked up, walking over to grasp Sirius's arm next in a show of camaraderie, "After all, I bet we even passed each other in the halls or common room once or twice back when I was a Gryfflepuff. Not that I ever said hello to anybody or drew attention to myself... " she trailed, looking away and shrugging.

"Oooh, I bet you're right. We'll have to plumb the depths of your memories sometime and see if we can dig up any juicy information on him. After all I know he wasn't as innocent as he'd like me to think," she grinned at Dinah, trying to keep the conversation light for the younger students.

"Are you kidding? He doesn't even look like the innocent type," Dinah giggled, "Unless he's in pu- oh, right! Let's start snacks in honor of my return to Gryfflepuff-dom," her giggle turned nervous as she realized her almost _faux_ _pas_ and waddled quickly off towards the dining area.

"We are going to be hearing about 'Gryfflepuffs' for the next week now," Severus declared grimly, "And I am starting to worry that loose lips as a result of pregnancy might end up causing _someone_ harm... " he raised an eyebrow at Sirius, "I shall try to keep her under control but I can make no guarantees."

The students, still hungry despite having eaten dinner, followed Dinah and dove into the snacks while the other three adults stood close together.

"We've discussed it more," Lucy said, turning worried eyes up to Severus.

"I want to wait until this thing with the Board of Governors and Henley is settled. Then I'll…"

"You know," she said, turning back to Sirius, "Remus will fudge things for you. He won't register you exactly as you are. He already said that…"

"I am not trying to make any kind of decision for you," Severus clarified, "Simply pointing out that my wife has a weakness for cute animals and her normal... 'adultness' shall we say seems to be on hold during ninety-five percent of her pregnancy. But she caught herself today, and as I said I will watch her. You may be safe for just that long."

"I know," Sirius nodded, "I just thought you might want to be aware."

"Well, it seems you have both come to a satisfying mutual decision," he muttered, nodding. Lucy guessed that was his way of saying he was glad for them.

"Yes, we have. Now, come on," she said, grabbing both men's hands and tugging them towards the dining room, "Dinah went through all this trouble and we shan't disappoint her."

"So I know this is totally inappropriate Professor, but how old are you now?" Agrona asked.

"I, um, just turned twenty-seven," Lucy grinned, feeling rather old in comparison to the young girl.

"Lucy, don't," Sirius groaned, "You're making me feel like an old man."

"Oh, hardly," Lucy protested, "If you think about it you were only what twenty-one, twenty-two when you went into Azkaban and likely stopped developing socially. Then you escaped for… about three years, making you twenty-five at most. Now it's not quite been two years since the revival so that makes you about twenty-seven. See? Not old. We're the same age."

"I'm not sure it works that way," he chuckled and kissed her cheek, "but I like your logic."

"That's what we Ravenclaws do," she giggled.

"So that makes me and Severus the old ones?" Dinah giggled, snuggling up to her husband.

"Ah. No. Only me. Recall your pregnancy affliction," Severus reminded her, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, right, of course," she agreed cheerfully, "But it's okay, this is a good role for you. After all, you just turned the big four-oh, right?"

"Oh, did you have a birthday, too?" Mae Yates asked with a smile at him, "Happy Birthday."

"Oh... yes... well... thank you... " he grumbled, blushing and looking away.

"Aww, she makes him blush too," Lucy teased.

Dinah smiled, "I know. He's becoming such a sweetheart as of late. Oh, all right," she laughed, standing to kiss the top of his head when he snarled at her, "I'll stop messing, I promise. I'm afraid you students are going to have to deal with him being grouchy all day. This is a bit more 'frivolity' than he's used to," she told the table.

"Oh, it's all right, we're sort of used to it," Derwent assured.

"Well, that is true," she giggled, sitting back down.

"Ah, but he came and is enduring. That's enough for me," Lucy said happily.

Severus merely grunted his acknowledgment, taking a handful of nuts from one of the many bowls Dinah had set out.

"Shall we do presents?" Dinah offered, "I confess I'm really excited for you to open mine."

"Yes, presents!" Lucy squealed.

"I think Dinah's childishness is catching," Sirius muttered to Severus.

"Yes, you enjoy that," Severus droned, summoning over a pile of two presents, a big one and a little one on top, with a blue fwooper quill stuck to the wrapping; "I thought I would return the favor."

Dinah grinned, "It was entirely his idea. I wanted it to stay though so I didn't tell him that now it appears you have matching quills."

Severus groaned at the realization, smacking his forehead, "You are evil, Dinah."

"Yeah, I know."

Lucy gave a little screech and clapped her hands together, "It's just perfect. I love it. We can do our grading all together. Now Dinah just needs… oh!" she said, covering her mouth. It probably wouldn't be unexpected but she realized now that she could get Dinah a yellow fwooper feather quill for her birthday.

Dinah chuckled, "Uh oh, I think we might end up with more of these pretty soon, Sev."

"Oh, now I've ruined the surprise," Lucy grinned, taking the fwooper feather and tucking it behind her left ear, and picking up the smaller of the two packages. Tearing open the bright paper she found an beatiful wooden picture frame intricately carved with abstract designs, and the word 'Friends' at the top. Mixed in with the other abstract designs, occasionally words such as 'Secrets', 'Sharing', 'Forever', 'Sisters', and 'Fun' popped up and then faded back away. Inside the frame was a Muggle photo that Dinah had forced Severus to take of her and Lucy when they went out to lunch in a Muggle restaurant in London during Lucy's ultrasound trip earlier in the school year. Where Dinah and Lucy smiled and showed the non-alcoholic Muggle drinks they had ordered due to their joint pregnancy.

"It's... from that trip... " Dinah explained, her voice a little wobbly, "I framed it. I liked that it says sharing because it means that... even if we have another disagreement like last year... we'll never stop talking again... " she took a break to wipe her eyes.

"Oh," Lucy said, yanking a handkerchief out of Sirius's pocket. "Dinah… that's just… it's so… of course we won't… it's beautiful…" she said haltingly, as she got up and flung her arms around her friend, "Thank you. Dang it," she laughed, rubbing at her eyes, "I thought I had these stupid things under control."

Dinah managed a giggle, returning her hug, "For what it's worth I kind of expected it would have this impact. I mean, look at me, I'm the same and I don't even have your hormone issues."

"Not to the same degree, at any rate," Severus tagged on.

"Don't be too snarky or I'll hug you too," Lucy warned with a mischievous grin.

Severus gave a little smirk and Dinah smiled at them, squeezing both of their hands at once, "You two are the best. Your interactions are so cute. Oh, look how sappy I'm getting."

"Okay," Lucy said, taking a deep breath and another swipe at her cheeks, "I suppose I should go back to my chair and the other presents. But honestly Dinah, this is just wonderful," she said, indicating the picture in its frame, "I don't know if I'll be able to decide where to display it."

Dinah sniffled and smiled, "Wherever you decide is fine with me. I'm just glad you like it. You do have one more gift from us, though."

"Right," Lucy said, settling down in her chair and grabbing the second present. She ripped the paper of the next present and discovered a beautiful, golden first edition book with the title _Ancient Enigmas: Historical Figures Suspected of Possessing Magical Talent_. "Wow," she said, gently touching the cover, "This looks fascinating…"

Dinah smiled, "And it's a Muggle book, too. It's non-fiction but I thought you might find it interesting. It talks about people from the ancient Egyptians all the way up through the American witch trials of a few centuries back. The good and the bad. But gives kind of a view of how the Muggles treated magical or potential magical individuals in different eras. I really love it myself. I first read it when I was studying at university, some years after I left Hogwarts."

"Thank you. I'm sure I'll love it. I do like to read non-fiction every now and again," she nodded.

"Here you are, Professor!" little Mae Yates seemed unable to contain herself and handed Lucy a big bouquet of blue, pink, and white flowers with silver and white lace accents, tied with a big blue bow which had a tiny silver book charm dangling from it. "My Mum helped me pick them out and sent it by owl today. I hope you like the charm. I used blue and silver for me and Andrew, and I thought the pink and white would look nice with it." The little card that came with the flowers read 'Happy Birthday, Professor Black! Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher! Love, Mae Yates and Andrew Speasy.'

"Oh, these are just gorgeous! Here, Sirius put them in water. But leave the charm! I can put it with my new book. Thank you both," she said, ignoring the hanky this time and using her hand to wipe at her tears, "You didn't have to... I wouldn't have minded. I didn't expect any of this really…"

"I think that's why they're called surprise parties Lu," Sirius called from where he'd taken the flowers to put in a vase.

"You're welcome," Andrew said, looking a little embarrassed, while Mae smiled and nodded.

"Our turn!" Jania shouted, handing her a box with a card on it.

Inside the card read, 'Happy Birthday! Thanks for being our friend!'.

"You're so welcome," Lucy said, feeling teary, "I'm glad to have you all as friends."

"Open the box!" Jania bounced.

Inside the box was a muggle film along with a fuzzy, yellow, plush duckie and a duck-themed bath set that came with a soap dish, bath mitt, sponge, and a duckie squirt toy.

"I know that it's not all exactly a birthday present, but we just couldn't resist the duck toys after seeing the nursery," Jania explained.

"It's perfect, Jania. You too, Tad. Thank you both. I'll love the movie I'm sure and the ducks will fit in so well with Harry's duck," Lucy said, rubbing at her eyes.

"Don't cry, Professor!" Jania said, looking worried, "We didn't want to make you cry!"

"It's okay," Sirius assured them, "It's just the hormones, remember?"

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "These are happy tears. Everything's fine. Thank you both for being so thoughtful."

"You're welcome," Tad said, blushing.

"'ere you are!" Gabrielle diverted, setting down a fairly large box wrapped in fun, flowery paper on the table in front of her.

Again she ripped up the paper, feeling a moment of regret at desecrating the pretty wrap, but there was no point in saving it. The box was labeled 'Inside Out Hearts' with large teacups painted on the outside.

"It is a set of six teacups. I know 'ow you English like your tea," Gabrielle said, looking very happy, "If you take them out of the box the cups and saucers are heart-shaped. They are absolutely adorable."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "they are. Thank you, Gabrielle. I'm sure they'll get used plenty."

"We got you a little something too," Agrona said, motioning Derwent and Amedeus to hand her two packages.

One present was called a 'Book Hug', a stand that would hold her books up and open so she could read even if her hands were unavailable. The second present was a box of stationary with vibrant red poppies on it.

"Thank you all," she grinned, "It's almost as if you all got together and coordinated your gifts."

Dinah giggled, "Well, it's no secret that you love to read."

Lucy gasped and made an overly dramatic face, "I thought I was being so secretive!"

"Secretive enough," Sirius assured, coming back and pressing a kiss to her temple, "I hope you won't be too disappointed but I didn't get you something book related."

Lucy eagerly took the little, black, velvety box her husband had produced and lifted the top. Inside was a bracelet, emeralds spaced evenly between wave-like pieces of silver. It was a simple, beautiful design and yet there was something about it that made it obvious that it had not come cheap. "This is…"

"I know how you like tradition and heirlooms so I made a trip down to the vault. I was actually searching for a necklace but I found this instead. Severus should be thrilled. I'm covering you in Slytherin jewels."

"Emeralds are very becoming regardless of connotation," Severus defended.

"I agree," Lucy smiled, pulling out the bracelet and wrapping it around her wrist, "and they go wonderfully with my coloring. See?" she asked, holding out her arm so the others could admire the gift.

"It's lovely!" Dinah sighed.

"Oh, Sirius?" Lucy asked, batting her eyes at him outrageously.

"Yes, dear?" he laughed.

"Do you think you'd mind retrieving our kitties. We can let them explore while we eat cake."

"Oh, the _kitties_!" Dinah squealed, "Yes, bring them out please, right away."

"All right," Sirius chuckled, "but Dinah has to prepare the cake."

A perfectly decadent chocolate cake floated over as Sirius went and retrieved their mewling felines.

"I'm going to leave them on the floor," Sirius warned as he came back into the room, Dora on his heels, "They're starting to walk around now but they're not very good at it. They walk kind of drunken."

"Aww," Dinah smiled, leaning down to scoop up the brown and white tabby Lucy had started calling 'Piggy'. He promptly began licking her fingers in search of food, making her squeal.

"I think Dinah wants that one," Lucy giggled, "Of course you'll likely have to keep her from stealing all of them, Severus."

He gave a snort of amusement, "Are you serious? She asks me every single day if we can keep all three."

"And every day he tells me 'no'," Dinah said, heaving a dramatic sigh.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm keeping one," Lucy grinned, watching the students fawn over the two remaining kittens, or at least the girls did. They boys stood a respectful distance back watching the action.

"Have you asked... ?" Dinah tilted her head meaningfully in Agrona's direction, reminding Lucy that she had intended to ask Agrona and Derwent if they were interested in adopting a kitten.

"Not yet," she shook her head; now was as good a time as any though and she turned to her seventh year friend, "Agrona? Dinah and I were talking earlier and…we were wondering if you might like one of the kittens?"

"Really?" the girl asked, her eyes widening a little.

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "Each of us is going to keep one and…well we considered all of you," she said to the younger guests, "but in all likelihood there'll be more litters and since Agrona's going to be leaving at the end of the year…"

"Are you sure, Professor Snape?" Agrona turned unsure eyes to Dinah.

Dinah burst out laughing, "Of course I'm sure, Agrona. I don't _really_ need three cats, I assure you. I'm just playing. I mean, it would be nice, in a way, but once you hit a certain number of cats you get labeled a cat lady, right?" she grinned, holding up the kitten in her hands to face her as if to ask him.

"Not if you're married," Agrona assured.

"There now, Severus, Agrona says we can have ten cats," Dinah beamed, turning to her husband.

"Very... amusing... " he drawled.

"I don't think she said that exactly," Lucy laughed, "But Agrona if you're willing to take a kitten, I'm willing to house it here until both you and the kitten are ready to live together."

"Yes, of course! Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Lucy grinned, "Now, Dinah. The cake."

"Of course! Shall we, little kitten?" Dinah asked her new companion, before waving her wand and setting twenty-seven candles ablaze on the decadent chocolate confection.

"Oh, we need to fix that," Lucy gasped, "It's like an inferno. I'm getting old." She took a big breath and blew out all but three of the candles.

"You're not old, Professor," Tad spoke up, "I think you're probably one of the youngest Professors Hogwarts has had."

"She's one of them, surely," Dinah smiled, "But definitely not the youngest. I wonder... " she batted her eyelashes at Severus.

He shook his head, "It was not me, though as I understand it I am on the younger end of the spectrum. Minerva, for instance, was hired in at nineteen. Though in both of our cases Dumbledore greatly desired our services. Historically, the youngest professor that was ever hired was an Herbology professor in the year eighteen sixty-five. She was eighteen."

"Um... wow... ." Dinah blinked at him.

"Ah, see? I'm positively ancient getting hired in at the old age of twenty-five," Lucy exaggerated.

Dinah chuckled, "When we've got two babies around and the three of us are too exhausted to move and we force you to do everything for us you'll feel young again."

"Oh no, I think I'll feel about a hundred then from being run ragged," Lucy grinned.

After they all finished their cake the group moved to the karaoke machine Dinah had brought over. Mae and her professor friend showed the others how to use it and they all took turns using the singing machine. Everyone except for Severus and Andrew that was. The two boys looked rather skeptical about it but stayed nearby allowing everyone else to have their fun.

"Thanks for coming, everyone. I had a great time," Lucy said as the Snapes and Sirius prepared to escort the students back to their common rooms.

"You're welcome," Dinah grinned, giving her a hug, "We'll have to do this again next year."

"Next year we might be too tired," Lucy teased.

"Maybe," Dinah grinned, "We'll see. Severus?"

He sighed, offering her his hand, "Happy birthday. I'm glad you enjoyed all this excessive frivolity."

"Thanks," Lucy grinned, "I'm glad you endured the 'excessive frivolity' so well."

He heaved a dramatic sigh, "I am learning to do my best. Good night," he gave her a nod as he bid her farewell, and soon they were leading the students out, after each one had wished her a happy birthday again.


	68. Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Monday night. He'd spent all day listening to Minnie McGonagall try and persuade him that he'd be perfect for the Transfiguration post. He'd spent all weekend at the Weasleys celebrating his wife's birthday. Now it was Monday night and he could relax. Alone. In bed. With Lucy. Just like she'd wanted to on her birthday. She'd enjoyed her party though. He was rather proud of himself for that, he had to admit.

Still, this relaxing in the bedroom thing was quite pleasant. The room was nice and toasty and Sirius was prepared for an evening of quiet repose.

Lucy, however, had other ideas.

When she… or they, were done, Lucy performed a quick spell to clean things up and curled up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder, one leg slung over his hips.

"Can we talk about something?" she asked.

"Mmm," he hummed, ready to fall into an exhausted sleep.

"Well, it doesn't really bother me but I _am_ curious…"

"Hmm?" he responded, using his wand to bring the blankets up over them.

"Well, I wondering… you really enjoy this," she demonstrated what 'this' was by reaching her hand down between his legs, "and yet it wasn't until recently you started letting me… finish you by means other than straight up sex."

Ah, Lucy. His Ravenclaw was clearly trying to put things in a more logical perspective and, he suspected, coming up with the wrong answer. "It wasn't you… that's not true, it was you," he admitted, "but not in the way you're thinking. I did those things with other girls. They were some of my first… sexual experiences," he said, trying to frame it in logical terms like she was, "They were girls I had no more feelings for other than I wanted them and they wanted me."

"So, you fell deeply in love with me the moment you laid eyes on me and didn't want to treat me as someone who you just lusted after?" she grinned, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder.

"Ah, no," he blushed, "Actually I laid eyes on you, wanted to throw you up against the wall and have my way with you. But you were clearly very young and I… was not. Not to mention I hadn't been with anyone in… oh, thirteen years."

He started running his hand up and down her bare back, "Actually, I never told James this, for obvious reasons, but I've always had a bit of a thing for redheads. Maybe it's because they're rare… or at least I thought they were until I met the Weasleys. To be clear I never had a thing for Lily; it was more redheads in general. Of course then you got this silly notion that it'd be better if we didn't so much as touch each other in any way."

"And I radiated virginal… vibes?"

"Not really. It's embarrassing to admit this but I didn't have any idea that you… hadn't… ever… at least not until we got stuck under the mistletoe."

"At which point you decided I could be easily tutored in your depraved sexual tastes?"

"No," he drawled, "at which point I decided I was going to respect your wishes to the best of my ability. I wanted you but I didn't want to ruin that… pure quality you seemed to have. You deserved better than to just be used for my pleasure. I used those other girls, just as much as they used me and I wanted you to have better, even if it wasn't with me.

"Except that I couldn't let you go. And it was pretty obvious you wanted me just as much as I wanted you. It didn't take long to figure out I loved you."

"And yet you never said anything," she mused, sounding sleepy.

"I was going to," he reminded her, "but other things got in the way. It doesn't matter though, we ended up right where we should."

* * *

><p>"Come on! Come on!" Dinah squealed, hoisting herself up from her spot at the kitchen table and grabbing Severus's hand, trying to tug him up out of his seat, "We can't wait any longer! It's time to put together our nursery!"<p>

"Wait," her much-calmer husband droned, reminding her just how much strength he had when he resisted her pull easily, instead pulling her back towards him. A slight smile quirked at his lips, "All in good time, my dearest, but first you must finish your water and take the supplement potion I've prepared for you. You don't want cramped and swollen legs again tonight, do you?"

She sighed, sitting back down, "No, I suppose not." At this later stage in her pregnancy she was experiencing all sorts of unique new unwanted physical ticks and symptoms, and she was quite exhausted much of the time, but she managed to keep her spirits up through her often-childlike hormonal condition, and all of her fellow professors were now telling her that she was 'glowing'. She felt glowing, most of the time, actually.

"Hey," she smiled as she consumed the grape-berry flavored potion, "At least you're feeding me this now instead of an appetite stimulant."

Severus sighed, nodding, "It seems you've finally reached the point in this pregnancy where your appetite issues are past, thankfully. Now, finish your water."

"You're so good to me," she said, shooting him an affectionate gaze as she did as she was told, "Now, come _on! _Let's go!"

"Wait," he held her back again, "Didn't you mention adding a kitchenette or some such nonsense to this dining area?"

"It's not nonsense," she huffed, "And yes, I did, thank you for reminding me. I know you don't often make your own food here at Hogwarts and neither did I, really, up until now, but I think we should start. If you don't mind…" she hesitated, twiddling her fingers, "I think I'd probably like to make Muggle food for our baby during the school year sometimes."

"Don't do that," he stopped her twiddling. He knew so well her nervous habit. "Of course I don't mind, I have said this. Besides, I enjoyed your Muggle concoctions over the summer, did I not?"

She smiled, wiping her eyes that had suddenly teared up. Curse these pregnancy hormones! "You did. Wasn't our first summer together wonderful? We had so much fun… with you in the Muggle world, and Slinky and everything. I'm so happy to be married to you."

"We did," he murmured, handing her a handkerchief, "And I am just as happy, I assure you. Now, Dinah…"

"Oh, I'm fine now!" she chirped, tossing the hanky aside and standing up from her chair, making him groan and shake his head. "Let's go," she tugged him up and he didn't resist this time as she led him into the main room. She did think she heard him mumble something along the lines of 'one more month of this', though.

"No, no, more like two more weeks at this point, my calendar," she grinned, squeezing his hand and then frowning out at their little living area, homey in the orange glow of the fire with their green and black furniture and the green sofa they loved so much. If other people knew how often they used that thing for sex they probably wouldn't sit on it. Luckily, wizard cleaning spells were very efficient. "Do you think we should move the furniture in here around?"

"Is there something wrong with where it currently is?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"No," she shook her head, "I was just thinking, a little change or variety. Maybe not right now, though." She turned to face the kitchen area, having a better, more full view of it from their current standing position. She lifted her wand and flicked it, causing a tiny little silver stove and some more cupboards and various implements to pop up, expanding the area a bit, but not too much. "What do you think?"

"That it looks like it will function well for its intended purpose," he nodded, approving.

"Oh, you're so romantic," she rolled her eyes, "I'll have to decorate it a little bit to make it more fun. Just plain 'functional' is boring, don't you know?"

"Whatever you choose," he droned, and she sensed that now he was just being flat and uninterested to tease her.

"Oh, you," she nudged him, getting a little smile to form. That gave her another burst of excited energy and she dragged them over to the wall behind the couch, to the left of their bedroom, and in front of the writing desk. It was stuffed with potions shelves right now, ones that Lucy had messed around with last year, infuriating Severus but giving him and Dinah a chance to re-sort them and connect intellectually. She just loved this place for that reason. It was also the most reasonable location for a new door and a new room. "What do you think? Right here, between these two shelves? It's the perfect spot for a new expansion."

"It's satisfactory," he nodded, "I can think of no other better place, at any rate."

"My thoughts exactly," she nodded, "And there will be space for a second room next to it if we ever decide to have another child."

"Mm. Perhaps. If we do I shall have a full supply of appetite stimulants ready far in advance."

"Oh, now, they say every pregnancy is different. I might not have appetite issues at all next time," she said, and then cast the spell to expand the wall and add on a new room, "I love Hogwarts. Everyone can add rooms and such whenever they please. It's a wonderful privilege to have. Let's go inside," she took his arm, leading them into the spacious room she had just created.

Dinah sighed, feeling all blissfully happy as she stared at the clean, empty walls, imagining being in here with Severus caring for their little bundle of joy, "What do you think?"

"It's rather… large, isn't it?" her husband frowned, "A baby is small. Does it really need all this space?"

She had to laugh, "Babies are small, yes, Severus, but they get bigger. You'll probably end up quite surprised at how fast they _do _grow. Besides, recall all of the baby things we're storing in our room right now. Shrunk, they don't occupy much space but when we put them in the nursery…"

"Mm," he agreed with a reluctant nod, "I suppose I shall bow to your experience on this."

"I'm about as experienced as you are, really," she smiled, "My family is small. It's just me and Larry, really. Aside from more distant cousins I'm going to be the one starting up the next generation. It's not like Lucy, with all her cousins and the new Lupin babies and everything."

"Yes, yes, enough about them," he waved her off, making her giggle at his antics. She really was just _so _lucky to have him by her side. He was the most wonderful man in the world.

She chuckled, running her hand over her rounded belly, a little tired from standing, but she'd sit down as soon as they got the rocking chair into the room, "It's high time we did this. I can't believe we waited so long. You know, the baby could come any day now."

"I would prefer it to wait until its due date, actually," Severus intoned, not sounding too thrilled with the notion of a sudden, surprise birth.

Dinah laughed, "Well, that would be lovely, but we've got to be prepared for anything. You never know, and sometimes little babies aren't inclined to wait. Now, Sev," she smiled, reaching to smooth his hair, "We're not going to have another panic attack like we did when I brought the shower gifts home, are we?"

"_No_," he retorted, but turned and offered her a slight, knowing smile, "Says the woman who woke up a few nights ago terrified that she was going to make a terrible mother."

"I had a nightmare," she pouted, blushing a little. Reminded of the incident, though, it didn't take her long to snuggle up against him and rub her cheek against his shoulder, "But it was all right because I had you to make me feel better again."

"Always," he murmured in her ear, making her shiver with warmth and pleasure. Whenever he said things like that, she remembered how far they'd come. The world 'always' was now hers and hers alone. He had chosen her, moved on from Lily, and now they were starting a family together. Being loved by Severus Snape was… the greatest miracle in the world.

Releasing her from his embrace, he gave her a brief kiss before saying, "Then, I suppose it's time to bring in all of the items?"

She smiled and nodded, taking both of his hands and squeezing them, before letting go and flicking her wand, summoning the shrunken items from hers and Severus's room into the new nursery, where they grew to their original sizes and arranged themselves haphazardly against the four walls. Immediately, Dinah sunk into the rocking chair, taking a load off her feet with a contented sigh.

"Excuse me?" he teased, kneeling down next to her, "Is your work already finished?"

She giggled, "Well, we did make the room and get everything in here. Maybe that's enough?"

"Shall I fetch you a glass of cherry syrup and soda with an umbrella in it?"

"Oh, you!" she pushed him playfully as they laughed together. Ever since she had gotten pregnant she had enjoyed the drink but her husband liked to tease her about the fact that it was also Professor Flitwick's favorite beverage, complete with umbrella. "I have told you, I don't need the umbrella part."

"But it would fit so well with the lazy, tropical holiday image you seem to want to create," he teased, taking her hand and twining their fingers together.

"Watch it with the lazy talk," she giggled, leaning in to rest her forehead against his, "I'm pregnant."

"I hadn't noticed."

"Oh, shush!" she cuddled close, enjoying their mingled laughter. Even though it had been almost a year since their relationship had turned into this happy, easy one, she still cherished it. Cherished hearing him laugh, the fact that they could be playful like this together without a care in the world. Long gone were the days when he was isolated, stoic, and lonely. Gone also were the days when every moment she spent in the Wizarding world was filled with this little buzz of fear in her gut that somehow she didn't belong or was unwanted. All of that was now in the past.

"All right," she finally relented, "But I can stay seated and organize the furniture, too. After all, that's the beauty of magic. No standing or hands required, except to wave a wand."

"Ah, I knew I would one day convince you that magic is superior," he chuckled.

"Oh no, you don't," she laughed, "Only superior for some things."

"But you can appreciate its value in your life."

She sighed, taking his face and kissing him, infusing it with all her gratitude for making her feel welcome in this world, "You have no idea."

"I love you," he murmured, his gaze soft with understanding, making her heart flutter.

"And I you," she squeezed his hand, bringing his fingers to her lips to kiss, watching that little content look flash across his eyes. She loved that look. "Now," she said mischievously, "If you would stand up and tell me what you think about where I put everything."

He sighed, "Yes, Ma'am," and stood up, "Where do you plan to begin?"

For the next half hour she flicked her wand and let Severus do some of his own tweaking as well, moving the furniture around to different places until they finally settled on an arrangement that they found most suitable. They left a neat little empty space on the left wall for the cot to go after it finished its early stint in their bedroom, and surrounded it with all of the furniture and decorative items, the changing table from Lucy… and suddenly Dinah burst into laughter.

"What?" Severus turned his signature raised eyebrow on her.

"We forgot the rocking chair!" she giggled, pointing down to where her bottom was still plunked.

Laughing, he came over to take her hands and help her stand, "My ridiculous wife. You see where your laziness has landed us?"

"Oh, I've about had it with you and laziness!" she chuckled, "You forgot about it, too. Now where are we supposed to put it? We didn't leave a good spot. Now we have to start all over again."

"I think not," he smiled, tilting her chin up and kissing her lips, his silky tendrils of black hair brushing against her cheek, "For the time being, I believe we can leave it where it is. You've rested enough, my dearest. The healthy thing for your pregnancy is a little stimulation."

"Are you trying to seduce me?" she teased, running her tongue along his lips.

"Mm, are you seduced?"

"Maaaaaaybe…" she grinned, "Should we take the stuffed bear with us? Scandalize it some more?"

"Keep your infernal bear out of this," he snarled, lifting her up and spinning her around, kissing her with a surprising amount of joy that left her breathless. Dinah tried as best as she could to get close, but her protruding stomach was always in the way. Severus knew just want to do, though, lifting her into his arms so she could wrap her legs around his torso and carrying her easily back into their bedroom and onto the bed, where they could adjust themselves into the best positions to have sex when she was this pregnant. "This is not going to induce labor in you, is it?" he teased, running his hands over her belly, "I still insist that the child wait until its due date to be born."

"You can insist, but I don't guarantee it will listen," she smiled, reaching as best as she could to undo his buttons as he moved on top of her to allow her better access, "But I think I'll be all right. Besides," she purred, "I _need _you right now."

"You have but to ask," he murmured, leaning over and helping to undo her robes, decorating her neck with little, tantalizing kisses, making her squirm with pleasure, desperate for them to finish this. Today had been so wonderful, setting up the nursery, sharing joy and laughter and now passion. Dinah just could not get enough.


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Severus sighed, relaxing against Dinah after a long, pleasurable session of love-making post putting together their nursery. Well, all except for the infernal rocking chair they had forgotten. But that would come in time. Right now, he was marveling at the changes in her body as he often did as of late. His wife, curled up naked next to them in the bed which was once only his but was now unequivocally theirs, had developed such a rounded abdomen, her breasts swollen and plump from the pregnancy. And yet, the rest of her body remained as slender as he remembered from before she had been with child. Perhaps a bit smoother and pinker, but he did not think she'd gained much weight. Hopefully, that meant she was still healthy. He did worry about her old appetite issues from time to time, but that had seemed to turn out all right as well. His precious snidget was just as normal.

She sighed, glowing with happiness as she moved to snuggle into his arms and he ran his hands along her smooth, round body, from her arms to her breasts to her pregnancy. It would not be long before the child was born. He was still adjusting himself to everything surrounding that, but he already knew that he loved the little individual that was currently shifting around inside of his wife dearly. And he was happy that he had been able to give Dinah the family she'd always wanted, confident that he was the only one she would ever want to be by her side in that endeavor. Confident in her love for him. Though he still did get jealous when he thought of that Dylan fellow.

"Why are you scowling?" she chuckled, trailing a slender finger along his chin and making him face her, having noticed when his thoughts had derailed. "It's not just to turn me on, is it?"

That made him laugh. Even his scowling, normal 'school' personality she found attractive. How he had gotten so lucky as to have her in his life he would never know. But he did not question it. "I'm sorry. I was thinking of something else. Certainly not about this little one moving around," he said, cupping the lower part of her belly where his hand currently rested, "It would not make me scowl."

"No, just make you have panic attacks," she teased, and he sighed. She would never let him live that down. But he also knew her teasing had no malice. It was different, with her. He did not mind being 'messed' with.

Her eyes grew gentle as she put her hand over his, "He or she is getting ready to come out. I can't wait to meet him… or her."

Severus smiled. He smiled so easily now, with her in his life. "Indeed. Nor can I. However, I still-"

"Would prefer she waits until the due date. I know," Dinah giggled, "I think he'll wait."

"Now you are just changing the sex arbitrarily," he raised an eyebrow.

"It's better than calling him an 'it'. She wouldn't like that."

"My ridiculous angel," he chuckled, nuzzling her forehead, making her smile, his favorite thing in the world, "Perhaps we should just take on Lucy's habit of calling the baby 'One'."

"No, it's not nice to copy off of friends," she yawned, nestling her head into his shoulder, "Can I nap now?"

He sighed again, enjoying this light contentment, wrapping his arms more easily around her and settling them into more comfortable laying positions. He would not mind a bit of a rest himself. She always took so much out of him, but filled him up just as much in return. It seemed after the baby was born they would have to refrain from sex for a bit, but that was all right. If it was healthy for her, it was fine with him. And it certainly wouldn't be abstaining for longer than his old nemesis had already had to. Severus did still feel a bit smug about that. "You may do whatever you wish," he murmured into his wife's ear, "Whatever makes you happy."

"You make me happy," she whispered back, filling him up again.

"Sleep, my love," he encouraged, running his fingers along the back of her neck, "Tomorrow we can adjust the nursery arrangements for the infernal Weasley rocking chair. And in two weeks we will be able to fill it with our child."

Dinah gave a light, sleepy chuckle, "You know what comes before then, though?"

"What?" he frowned, unsure.

"Valentine's Day," she giggled.

"Ugh," he groaned, scowling as memories of embarrassment, awkwardness, and nervousness bombarded him at once, "The bane of my existence."

"You'll do fine," she laughed, lifting her head to cup his cheek, "Just remember. Don't go overboard. I love you no matter what. And last year you made me the happiest girl in the world."

Her gentle encouragement brought back more pleasant memories of when she had received his plethora of gifts last year. Of how she had smiled at him with the happiness he had never made appear in a woman's eyes before she came into his life. How she had told him, like tonight, that he made her happy. And how much that had all meant to a young, youthened boy who was trying to figure out just how much he loved the girl that had consented to join him on his journey. And he knew now. His love for her was nothing less than infinite. "All right," he agreed, smiling as they laid down to take their rest, "We shall see what I come up with this time."

* * *

><p>Severus was not sure <em>what <em>he had come up with this time. He knew it could not be too much, nor could it be too little. It must be more sophisticated than last year, but just as heartfelt. And, just as last year, it had to make Dinah happy.

All this is what had him sneaking off during Dinah's Game Night on Wednesday to attempt a trip to London for the perfect gift. He had threatened the Granger girl with everything short of certain death should she fail to alert him via Patronus at a moment's notice if something happened to Dinah while he was gone. But he was trying to trust in his wife's healthy pregnancy and assume that nothing would go wrong. And hoping, again, that the child would be reasonable enough to wait and come when he was present and available, even if it didn't wait until its due date. It was the least it could do for its own father, after all, Severus thought smugly.

"Ah!" came the startled noise from an object that had impacted with him. "Sorry, I wasn't watching…"

He jumped, startled at the intrusion and growling a bit at having encountered a roadblock to his sneaking. Turning to his left he found a frazzled and frantic-looking Lucy. Her hair in disarray and sticking out in places it normally didn't. The slightly agitated look in her eyes, as well as the way her arms had come around to cradle her own swelling abdomen, allowing the bag she'd been carrying to slip off her shoulder and become suspended by her elbow, caused Severus some concern.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, his own agitation preventing him from speaking more smoothly. He had been hoping to escape before she arrived for the Game Night, which she sometimes also participated in. Thus why he had asked Granger to keep an eye on Dinah rather than Lucy. If Lucy found out where he was going…

"Game Night," she panted, "I'm late. Had an appointment with Poppy. You on your way there too?"

"No!" he snapped, desperate to keep her from finding out, "I… am… on my way… heading…" Curses! Every time he encountered her before Valentine's day he lost all ability to be articulate.

"Oooh," a teasing gleam suddenly entered her eyes and a smirk on her lips, "You wouldn't happen to be doing the same thing Sirius is on his way out to do, would you?"

It was his last chance to cover it up. He snorted and turned his nose up at the notion, "I am certain that I have no intention of doing any joint activity with Sirius."

"I didn't say anything about doing it with him jointly, Severus. Now, stop being all suspicious. You may have been a spy, and a good one at that, but I was an Auror, I know how to read people," she said, putting a haughty look on her face. Yes, little by little, she was gaining back aspects of the Lucy he'd known before.

"What is it you are so convinced that I am doing then?" he asked, giving up.

"Shopping. For Valentine's gifts," she giggled, "Would you like some help? I did tell Dinah I wasn't sure if I could make it tonight so she's likely not expecting me."

"I do not need your advice!" he retorted. The last time he had gotten her advice she had given him a million ideas and he had taken each and every one of them and made it into a gift for Dinah. Yes, that had amounted to over ten gifts. Twelve, to be exact, if he included the promise he had made to be open to visiting Dinah's friends in the Muggle world. Hard to believe he lived half in that world himself now.

"Oh," she said, visibly slipping back into the less confident Lucy of recent years. "Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought you might like some help."

He groaned. How was he to remain agitated and deal with her confidence issues at the same time? Sometimes he wished he was still the less 'nice' version of himself that he had been before he'd met Dinah. But there was no turning back now. Not that he really wanted to, "Lucy Anne Ketteridge, you know perfectly well that I was simply being indignant as normal. Do not be offended. You must have more backbone than that." There, if he made it into a stern order it worked better.

"Sorry," she frowned, but didn't shrink back from him any farther. "I can't change all at once. I didn't think I was doing that bad myself. But, really Severus, are you sure you don't want my help? I promise I won't give you a dozen suggestions this time."

"I do not need a single suggestion," he huffed, "Your offer is appreciated and no you cannot change all at once but yes I am perfectly capable of selecting a gift on my own this time as I have done for her birthday and Christmas as well. I am going to London. I have even brought a change of Muggle clothes in case I decide to go that route this time and purchase something from a Muggle store. I am prepared." He was babbling, too, but he decided not to call attention to that right now.

"All right," she nodded, smiling, "You know how to get in touch with me. I'll likely only be at Game Night for half an hour or so. Got orders to stay off my feet more… they're all swollen," she said, flicking her robes aside so her feet were visible, "In reality I feel like one giant… puff of flesh, but Poppy said most of it was normal, so… Anyway," she continued, "I've got some of those 'Valentine's sex books' if you'd like one of those for inspiration. There's no way I'm going to be needing them this year. Someone may as well enjoy them."

"I can have my own Valentine's Sex now, thank you!" he insisted, feeling his face flare up at the memory. Hard to believe it still been less than a year since he'd had sex for the first time, he thought with a grimace. But he was glad it was only with Dinah that he'd had relations, even though he had had to wait obscenely long for it. But last year, his Valentine's 'research' in the library hand turned up nothing but cliché flowers and chocolates and a bunch of sex-filled romance novels that his youthened self had balked at. Then Lucy had shown up, and the rest was history…

"Okay," she giggled, "Good luck with that and I hope you both enjoy yourselves."

He sighed, shaking his head, "Thank you. And…" he scowled at what he was about to say. Curse Dinah and her kindness, "thank you for your advice last year. It proved… useful… in its own way. But it need not happen again."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, dropping her bag on the floor and doing her best to hug him in her advanced stage of pregnancy.

He was still not used to this, he thought, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. She was a friend, and she was attractive, but… all this hugging…

"Oh," she frowned as she pulled back, looking down at her discarded shoulder bag, "I shouldn't have done that. My wand's in there… It's going to be so much harder to pick up now."

He smirked, leaning over to lift the object up from the floor and hand it to her, thinking she might have been angling for this in the first place, "Be more careful next time."

"I will. Thank you," she smiled, "Now, go on. Game Night won't last forever."

"Yes. Keep an eye on Dinah for me, will you?"

"I'll do my best. After all, she's only got a couple weeks left, right?"

"Indeed," he agreed, "Speaking from her experiences, your swelling problems may last you until the baby is born. But water and supplement potion might help you as well… oh, and obviously do not tell her where I've gone unless there is an emergency."

"Of course not! I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise," Lucy said, "Thanks for the reassurance. I should be going now though. Good luck."

He nodded, bidding her farewell and heading out of Hogwarts castle, walking towards the edge of the grounds where he would be able to exit them and then Apparate to London. He still did not know what kind of gift he would buy, but did feel confidence in the fact that he would have plenty of tantalizing 'Valentine's Sex' to offer Dinah this year. Perhaps he would buy her some lingerie, the one gift Lucy had suggested last year that he had not been ready to purchase at the time, though he had gotten her something of that nature for her birthday some months later instead. How fast he had gone from thinking he could not love her to loving her more than anyone else in the world. No. He had always loved her that much, just needed to realize it.

Now they were married, starting a family, and the accursed Valentine's Day was once again rearing its ugly head. But he would persevere.

A Valentine's gift was a Valentine's gift, but being together was the best gift of all.

* * *

><p>Lucy sighed, struggling to get out of the chair. Sirius had planned a lovely Valentine's Day dinner and now, since the baby had dropped, Lucy couldn't stop getting up to go to the bathroom.<p>

"Sorry," she apologized, when she came back.

"It's fine," her husband grinned.

"This is all your fault you know," she teased, "If you hadn't been so insistent on having that leftover spaghetti…" Of course, they were sitting there eating some of the infamous food at the moment, on purpose she was sure.

"Well, you're the one who came into the kitchen without pants."

"Was I supposed to get dressed? We were going right back upstairs."

"No, no. I wasn't complaining. Pants would have just complicated things."

Lucy chuckled, rubbing her stomach, "Yes, and I'm sure the outcome would have been the same."

"Lucy," Sirius sighed, scooting his chair around so that he was sitting beside her, his hand covering her own, "I… The Potters were my family. Then suddenly they were all gone… except Harry. I couldn't be his family though, not in Azkaban and not even after I escaped. Then… he doesn't need me to be his family anymore. This isn't coming out right… I never thought I'd have a family of my own. I really didn't. James… Lily… Harry, they were going to be my family. But then I met you and now here we are starting our own family. We both come from less than stellar families, but I think we'll be just fine."

"Oh," she said, ducking her head to hide the tears that had sprung up at his words. "I know," she whispered, "I feel the same."

"I went to London to try and find a gift for you… but I couldn't find something that was right. Everything had something I didn't like about it. I didn't want to go into the vault and pick out another piece of jewelry for you. I know you like it but it just didn't seem right… so, I don't have a gift. I love you and I'm excited to start a family with you, I can't think of anything more perfect than that."

"Well," Lucy teased, "flowers might have been nice."

"Flowers," he groaned, "why didn't I think of flowers?"

"Because you were over-thinking it probably," she chuckled, "but it's okay. I didn't really expect anything. You know what I'd really like to do? Go to bed, maybe read all cuddled up together, have you rub my back. All those things I said I wanted on my birthday. I like the little things."

"Well then," he said, standing and helping her to rise as well, "Why don't you go get ready for bed, pick out a book, and I'll clean this up and meet you in there?"

"Sounds perfect," she said, kissing him and waddling out of the room to finish off what was, for her, a mostly perfect Valentine's Day.


	70. Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Dinah smiled as her husband led her by the hand away from the table after they finished their Valentine's Day dinner. She had amused him by insisting that it be candlelit with some soft music from her 'infernal Muggle disc player' in the background. But they had both enjoyed themselves, she thought, and the meal had been delicious. An amalgam of some of both of their favorite dishes.

He stopped them in the middle of the living area, looking down into her eyes, "I suppose it is time for gifts."

She grinned, "I hope you didn't stress yourself over it like last year. I found some rather nice things for you if I do say so myself. But you look anxious, you can go first."

"I am not anxious," he retorted, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead, "Wait here." He turned and went into his office. She was surprised he wasn't levitating the objects from wherever he had them hidden. But perhaps he had other plans.

He emerged, but she saw nothing in his hands. Offering a raised eyebrow, she got him to chuckle, "I have fetched them but with a concealment charm. They are not wrapped." And with that, he withdrew a familiar-looking bouquet with some extra touches, placing it into her hands.

"Severus…" she murmured, looking down into the white ranunculus with the grape hyacinths and Queen Anne's lace, wrapped in lace and tied with a pink bow. It was larger than her bridal bouquet, and had the addition of tiny pink and blue ranunculus buds hiding in amongst the larger blooms.

"We have not had an anniversary yet, but I wanted to express those same sentiments…" he explained cautiously, "It is the anniversary of our first Valentine's Day, a day that meant a great deal to me, despite the… challenges," he grimaced.

Dinah giggled, taking a step closer to him, waiting for him to finish.

"It resembles our wedding bouquet but with the addition of the smaller buds – magically colored to represent the child we will be having together."

"It's perfect," she whispered, gazing up into his beautiful, sincere dark eyes, feeling a little overwhelmed with love for him.

"There are more gifts…"

"Ten more?" she couldn't help but tease, trusting that he knew she was laughing with him and not at him.

"No," he scowled a little, but it quickly gave way to another smile as he produced a small box of color-changing chocolates and something pale green stuck on top that made Dinah's eyes go wide.

"You…"

"Yes," he nodded, "I went to the Muggle stores… I wanted to give you Aero Mint because it has such meaning for us – why are you laughing?" he demanded, clearly not expecting her reaction. He didn't seem too offended though, as her laugh was a happy, delighted one.

"I bought you Aero Mint too!" she confessed, feeling a little floaty.

"You did?" it was his eyebrow's turn to go up.

"Yes," she smiled, flicking her wand and summoning the gift over in advance of the others, so she could show it to him, "See? I was thinking the same thing. Isn't it wonderful? Here…" she opened it and held a piece to his lips, "Now you just need to provide me with a snarky comment."

"I can think of nothing," he confessed, his voice reflecting sincere, gentle awe, making Dinah feel warm. He was so moved by their connection that he could not form a snarky comment.

"It's all right," she whispered, "Just eat it, then…"

His fingers came up to surround hers so that he could stroke them as his lips took the chocolate, then leaned over to kiss her so they could share in the taste. He sighed, reaching to press two book-shaped gifts into Dinah's hands. But for the time being she could not take her eyes off of him as he explained, "We have given each other gifts on numerous occasions now, and I thought that for once I should try and give you something other than jewelry. Something functional, that is meaningful to you in that sense."

She nodded, her throat going tight as she thought that she had had the exact same idea, just in the opposite way. Wait until he saw her gifts. She lifted the items and looked at them, her eyes filling up. "Snake books…?"

"You have none, aside from the pet maintenance book you picked up when purchasing Slinky," he explained, "I know you… wanted them to be a part of your life in this world but had avoided it up until last year. They are from the Wizarding world, and so I'm afraid they were purchased in Knockturn Alley, but I tried to choose ones that had little if any mentions of their apparent association with the Dark Arts. One is a guide to care of them as pets, but it includes magical varieties. The other… a history of the Slytherin snake and all the forms it has taken throughout history in various decorative insignia and memorabilia. If you recall, I first noticed your interest in snakes by watching you admire such things around Hogwarts."

Dinah nodded again, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she looked up at her husband, "That means so much to me. You have no idea… or maybe you do," she threw in with a little laugh of joy as his hand came up to cup her cheek, "Severus…"

"I love you. Your happiness means the world to me. That is why I chose those books. The second one has an engraving inside… but perhaps you should read it later, so as not to be too overwhelmed at once."

"That might be wise," she smiled, leaning in close and wondering what sort of message he had for her. But if she read it now, he was right, she probably wouldn't be able to stop crying and give him his own gifts. "Thank you…" she whispered, running her hands over the cover of the book that promised the sweet message.

"You are most welcome," he kissed her, and then a promising smile formed on his face, "Additionally, I considered purchasing you lingerie to complete Lucy's list of infernal suggestions from last year, but I decided it might be better to make that a birthday tradition instead." He chuckled at her blush, obviously knowing she was remembering the first pair of lingerie he had given her for her birthday last year. "I _am _, however, going to give you 'Valentine's Sex' this time."

Dinah covered the giggle that bubbled out of her, and she nodded, "Yes. I look forward to that very much, my dearest. Now, you'll be surprised that I tried to do the opposite gift-wise this year as well. I always give you practical potions ingredients and books, I wanted to try for something more intimate this time…"

He nodded, looking pleasantly surprised and a little curious, but not saying anything.

She blushed, "Well, I don't know how good I was at it, you're so hard to buy for, but…" she handed him a wrapped gift, which he opened to discover the soft black scarf she had selected for him, infused with a few discreet bits of green and yellow for their houses. "I read online that scarves were a good alternative to Muggle ties… you don't wear ties, obviously ,but a scarf… it's nice and warm and, well there's no Quidditch this year, but when the second task comes, and you usually let me wear your regular scarf, this way we've both got one."

A gentle smile formed on Severus's lips as he nodded, running his fingers over the soft material, "It is beautiful, and meaningful. I can't even think to say it would be 'useful' this time because it is so different from a potions book or an ingredient, although I appreciate those gifts as well. I don't mean to say…"

"I know," she whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek, "I'm glad you like it. And it _will _be useful, won't it?"

He chuckled, "Of course."

"The other thing…" she murmured, her heartbeat quickening as she reached in and handed him the second package, which he began to open, "I wanted to do something special, so I had our picture that Lucy had gotten from the Yule Ball framed… and the frame custom made…"

Severus just stared at the gift when it was open. He and Dinah dancing together at their first Yule Ball, the angle such that you could tell she was pregnant if you knew to look for it, but it wasn't immediately obvious. Them sharing smiles. And the frame decorated with intertwining silver snakes and copper badgers.

"I made the animals look cute…" she confessed, laughing, "It was our first Yule Ball together. I know it meant a lot to you because you didn't have anyone the last time… do you like it?"

"It's perfect," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion.

"I'm glad," she whispered, feeling her eyes fill again, "Of course, I mean, it will probably end up hanging in our bedroom or something but-"

"It will go in my office," he declared, interrupting.

"Really?" she gasped, meeting his gaze. He always kept his office devoid of personal items, though she knew he had the picture of their youthened selves stashed in a drawer he often opened.

He nodded, "I had been thinking of framing some of our other pictures for display as well. The students know we are married, they all saw us dancing at the Yule Ball. It is time."

"Severus!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him, reveling in the feel of his arms pulling her as close as they could given her pregnancy. She smiled, stroking his cheek when they drew back, "I'm glad. Just don't go overboard and make your office into a shrine of pictures of us and the new baby when it arrives."

"I think I can control myself," he said dryly, as they laughed together, then moved in again for a tight embrace. "Happy Valentine's Day," he whispered into her ear.

Dinah smiled, closing her eyes and pressing herself into his warmth, tangling her fingers in his long black hair as his own fingers tangled in hers. Their second celebration of this holiday together had turned out to be as joyous as she could ever dream of. "Happy Valentine's Day."

* * *

><p>"You got flowers?" Lucy asked, slightly jealous as she walked into Dinah's office the next day. She was once again skipping her office hours this Tuesday afternoon. It was something she'd been doing more frequently as her pregnancy progressed and she found she needed more time to rest.<p>

Dinah appeared to be just finishing up a meeting with Hermione and looked up at Lucy's intrusion.

"Mm," Dinah smiled.

"Yes," Hermione sighed, "Aren't they lovely? I feel like I'm just seeing a whole new side of Professor Snape. Granted, every time he sees me he acts pretty much the same," she chuckled as Dinah hid a grin.

"Give him about ten years or so, he might change his mind," Lucy smirked, "He didn't like me much as a student either." She gratefully sank into one of the free chairs in Dinah's office, her eyelids immediately starting to droop. "They are beautiful flowers," she complimented before murmuring, "Flowers would have been nice."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"What did you end up getting?" Dinah grinned.

"Nothing," Lucy mumbled. She'd been fine with it. Really. She had. The things Sirius had said to her… they meant more than any present. Still… flowers would have been nice.

"Nothing!" Hermione exclaimed; "That's even worse than Ron's ability to pick Valentine's gifts. Do you need one of us to give him a talking to?"

"No. It's fine," she shook her head, "I don't always need gifts and the things he said to me… they were perfect. It's just…" she waved a hand distractedly at Dinah's bouquet and turned her gaze down to her stomach, "Really, One? I just went. I'm not going again right now no matter how much you push on my bladder."

Dinah chuckled, "Oh, that? Welcome to the club." They bid Hermione farewell and after the student had left and closed the door she said, "I'm sorry you didn't get any flowers or anything. I can understand that would be disappointing. I got... " she blushed, "The flowers, Aero Mint - we both bought each other Aero Mint, actually - and... " she grabbed two books from a drawer and pushed them across the way for Lucy to look at.

"Oh, they look beautiful and so very you," she praised, stopping to pull out a handkerchief, "I'm sorry. I don't know why," she sobbed, "I told him I didn't want anything. I just wanted to go to bed early, read together, maybe have him rub my back. We did all those things and it was wonderful and perfect, so I don't know why…"

"Aww, Lucy," Dinah murmured, reaching over to wrap an arm around her shoulders, "I don't know what to say. I'm sure his feelings were sincere... you said he said nice things, and it's the words, the feelings, that really matter. Here, look," she opened the cover of the book about the Slytherin snake and pointed to something. "I mean, sure he put it in a book but it's the thoughts that really count, see?"

On the inside front cover, inscribed in Severus's own hand, were the words, 'My Dearest Dinah. To remind you that you always belong in this world, And of the miracle that your presence has brought into my life. Never forget how deep my love for you runs, and that from the beginning I have always been thinking about you. Yours Eternally, Severus.'

"Oh," Dinah whimpered, and Lucy looked up to see her wiping tears from her eyes, "I still can't look at the stupid thing without crying. I think I would even if I _wasn't_ pregnant."

"See?" Lucy said, reaching for a hanky for Dinah and a second for herself, "Sirius said stuff like that. Not those exact words but you know. So I don't know why I'm upset he didn't even get me flowers. He didn't even think of flowers. Said he looked and looked but he couldn't find a gift that was just right."

"Sounds like he was over-thinking it," Dinah offered, sniffling.

"Probably," Lucy nodded, "It likely doesn't help that I'm starting to feel like a big, fat, puffy whale. I mean look," she said, pulling a necklace out from her collar to reveal her engagement ring and wedding band hanging there. "I woke up one morning and I couldn't put them on anymore."

"Oh... " Dinah said, her gaze full of sympathy, "But you look fine, I think. I wouldn't have guessed that unless you'd showed me."

Lucy laughed through her tears, "Thanks. I'm sorry. I know you want to get to know the happy Lucy and not feel like I'm always going through some sort of crisis. I really think most of this is hormones… and I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping well and I can't… expend a lot of energy to help me sleep. I'm having these bizarre dreams and…"

"I know! I know!" Dinah nodded, her head moving up and down vigorously with understanding, "Me too! I dreamt all sorts of strange things. I don't even want to repeat them they're so strange. And then there's the nightmares about things going wrong... stupid things, really, but when you're asleep they seem so real... "

"I had a dream I lost the baby. Not like that," she hastened to add when she saw Dinah's expression, "Like it was a book or something, I don't remember exactly, and I put it down somewhere and forgot where I put it! There was another time I was a cheesecake and you were trying to eat me but Severus accidentally stepped on me before you could."

"Oh!" Dinah brought the hand that still held the handkerchief Lucy had given her up to her mouth to cover a giggle, "That's so silly. It reminds me though. I don't think you _really_ have to worry until you start seeing Lucius Malfoy in a frilly pink dress."

That made Lucy laugh, "Oh, well I must be okay then. Still…" she said, her gaze drifting over to Dinah's flowers again.

"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" she offered, patting her arm, "I could tell Severus to go give Sirius some gift advice next time but I don't think that would go over well."

Lucy shook her head, "No, I don't think it would. Severus nearly had a conniption when I offered to go with him _this_ time. I… I didn't know it even bothered me until I came in here and saw them sitting on your desk."

Dinah nodded, "I understand. I'd feel the same if I was in your shoes. I guess on the positive side you know it probably won't happen again now," she said, fingering one of the flowers.

"Yeah," Lucy grinned, "but if I go home and try to tell him I really _do_ want flowers I'll probably start to cry and he'll feel bad even though it was no one's fault and then I'll end up with far more flowers than I could have even wanted."

"Hm," Dinah frowned, resting her elbow on the desk and placing her chin on her fist to think, "This_ is_ a dilemma."

"Oh, I'll just have to pluck up the courage and do it. I mean I can't come over here and bawl every time you get flowers and I don't. It's not fair to any of us."

Dinah chuckled, "No, I suppose not. Be gentle with him, though. You know from your talks with Severus how sensitive men can be about getting the wrong gifts and making us poor girls cry."

"Yeah," Lucy giggled, "it's true. Ow," she grimaced, shifting around in the chair. When she moved around the pains stopped, "Please tell me you have these 'false labor pains' too? Poppy said they're normal but sometimes I worry…"

Dinah nodded, "They're called Braxton Hicks contractions and yes, they're normal. You'll get used to them. Can you believe that Hermione's taking over the class completely next week, as my due date approaches? We've still got a couple more meetings left to get that all set up."

Lucy smiled and shook her head, "No, it seems like just the other day you told me you were pregnant too. I think Ginny's all ready to take over for me whenever I'll allow it. She's been asking me a lot lately to run the class. I've let her do it some and I have to keep reminding myself that she's successfully run my classes before. I plan to keep working as long as I can though. I've still got four more weeks. It's kind of fun to be able to say weeks instead of months now, isn't it?"

Dinah giggled, "Yes. My calendar loves it, too. Though now he's started on this kick that the baby _has_ to wait and come on its assigned due date. I think he just doesn't like the idea of something catching him by surprise."

Laughing, she nodded, "I can see that about him. He does know the due date's not exact right? I mean they have no way of knowing _exactly_ when you got pregnant. Even in my case. Just because I know when the sex that got me pregnant happened… It could have taken a day or so before the actual 'getting pregnant' part happened."

"Mmhm," Dinah agreed, smiling, "He understands that the due date is flexible. He would just prefer that it isn't."

"Ah, I see," she nodded, "Well, baby," she said, resting a hand over Dinah's child, "do me a favor and mess with your father a bit for me, okay?"

"Aww," Dinah sniffled, putting her hand over Lucy's and using the hanky again with the other, "That's so sweet. You hear that? Listen to your Auntie Lucy… messing with Daddy is like an important family pastime. As long as it's all in good fun."

"Oh," Lucy said, starting to cry again, "I'm going to be an Auntie? I mean I sort of am with Victoire but…"

"Of course you are," Dinah assured, "You're one of my closest friends. I wouldn't have our child call you anything else."

"You just want me to cry more, don't you," Lucy teased, "That means a lot, Dinah. Thank you. One'll call you Aunt Dinah and Uncle Severus too. I want that too."

Dinah nodded, offering her a slightly watery smile, "Thanks, and Sirius will be Uncle Sirius of course, too. I think we're all going to be a nice family here at Hogwarts." She laughed, "Won't the boys be thrilled when these hormones stop?"

"Yeah," Lucy giggled, "I'm sure they will. Of course I think Sirius is just eagerly waiting for Poppy to give us the okay to… you know."

Dinah chuckled, "Yeah, I know. Not much longer. Oh, that reminds me, it seems I have to thank you _again_ this year for that 'Valentine's Sex' suggestion. Kidding, of course. I think Sev would have done that on his own either way. You're free to taunt us a little if it'll make you feel better when we're cut off from sex for the little bit after the baby is born."

"You're welcome," Lucy grinned, "Hey, by then Sirius and I will be all experienced at it and you two will be the frustrated ones."

"That's a positive way to look at it. For you, anyway," she laughed.

"It sure is. I was celibate for the first twenty-five and a half years of my life, I can manage a few months," she sighed, looking over at the clock, "I suppose I should go… I've got my last class coming up soon."

"Okay," Dinah smiled, "Good luck with Sirius."

"Thanks," Lucy said, pushing her way up out of the chair and heading back to her classroom.


	71. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Things were nice. Things were calm. There'd been no more articles, no letters from Henley, nothing from the Board. In face the worst thing that had happened that week was when she'd come back to their rooms, bawling to Sirius about how Dinah had gotten flowers.

Lucy couldn't count the amount of times she'd apologized during that talk but eventually she'd made it clear that her husband hadn't done anything wrong and that she really had been content with their Valentine's Day. At least she had been until she'd seen Dinah's flowers and decided she wanted some too.

Still… things were good. It was Saturday morning, and late that morning if the sunlight coming into the bedroom was any indication. Sirius had let her sleep in after a restless, dream-filled night. The kittens were quietly exploring under Dora's watchful eye. The world was at peace.

Her languorous time in bed was brought to an end though. She had to pee, _again_, and the baby insisted she move soon anyway. Getting up and discovering it wasn't morning but actually early afternoon left Lucy feeling a little lazy and so to complete the feeling she decided she was going to spend the day in her pajamas.

Wandering out into the main living area in search of breakfast, she found a huge bunch of bluish-purple hydrangeas and promptly had to sit down in the nearest chair she was crying so hard.

"Lucy! What's wrong?" Sirius's arms came around her.

"You got me flowers," she sobbed, "Why?"

"Just because," he chuckled.

"Not because of what I said before?" she asked, feeling a little guilty that he might have felt compelled to buy her flowers.

"Well… only a very little bit. You just let me know you'd like getting flowers. That's all. I didn't feel forced into buying them for you. I thought you deserved them."

"Oh," she sighed, taking out a hanky, "I love you."

"Love you too," he replied, picking her up and groaning, "Now, you are going to stay off your feet today. I'm carrying you over here to the couch and I'm going to wait on you hand and foot. That's an order."

It was an order she could readily comply with, she thought, snuggling down and spreading a blanket over her. She got her flowers… and for no other reason than 'just because'. It was a good day.

* * *

><p>"Sirius," Lucy called that evening, "Someone's pounding on the door. You'd better get it. It could be Dinah."<p>

"Yes, dear," he grinned, sedately walking over to answer the door. On the other side, instead of finding Dinah as expected, there was a young, little Ravenclaw standing there. Mae Yates, Lucy could see from where she sat.

"Hi, Mae," Lucy greeted, "Is everything all right?"

"You answered!" she exclaimed, looking a little bit out of breath, her face lit up with joy, "I'm so glad! I'm supposed to tell you to go up to the hospital wing and meet somebody."

"Hospital wing?" Lucy questioned, getting up, "Is everything okay?"

"Uh huh," she nodded, her grin widening, "Everything is wonderful. You have to meet the new baby."

"The baby!" Lucy squealed, "She had the baby? And it didn't wait until the due date. Oh, how that baby must love me."

Mae giggled, "I don't know what you're talking about but yes, she had the baby. I don't know if you want me to tell you anything else about it yet. She probably wants to see your reaction. But it's wonderful. It's just so wonderful... " she trailed, looking a little emotional for some reason, before shaking her head, "Go up and see! I've got to go try and find Andrew and share the news with him before curfew hits and I've only got five minutes."

"Oh, go on. Hurry," Lucy shooed, "Thanks for stopping by, Mae."

"You're welcome. This is so exciting!" she chirped, before darting off down the hall to find her young friend.

"A baby, Sirius!" Lucy squealed, not letting him close the door, "We have to go see, right now!"

"You don't want to change first?"

"Right! I should change," Lucy said, flitting off into their room and throwing on some maternity robes before hurrying back out and pulling Sirius out of their rooms.

"Careful, Lu," Sirius said, hanging back a bit, "You still have to take it easy, remember?"

"Fine," Lucy huffed, slowing down from a fast waddle to a slow one. It took _forever_ to make their way up to the Hospital wing and when they finally got there the large room was dim with only minimal lighting left on. "Dinah?" Lucy whispered. It seemed like a whispering sort of place at the moment.

"Lucy!" Dinah softly exclaimed from where she and Severus were seated on one of the beds along the left wall, a tiny bundle in between their arms. They both looked calm and very happy, "I'm so glad you two made it. Come over and meet our little girl."

"A girl?" Lucy sighed going over to sit in a chair near the bed, "How are you? How is she? How…"

"Everything is fine," Severus smiled, smoothing Dinah's hair, "My wife is tired but both she and the baby are perfectly healthy."

"Mm," Dinah hummed, resting her head on her husband's shoulder and reaching down to part the blankets in her arms, revealing the face of a tiny little girl with pale blue eyes. Her soft tuft of black hair and the shape of her face was just like that of her father, but her features - eyes, mouth, and small nose - matched Dinah's.

"Aw," Lucy cooed, "She's beautiful… I want one," she said, turning to her husband who was hovering near the end of the bed.

"Soon," Dinah chuckled lightly, "Very soon. Don't you want to know her name?"

"Oh, yes," Lucy nodded, "and I want to hold her too. Can I hold her? Please?"

"Of course," Dinah offered, passing the baby over to Severus, who gently, almost cautiously as though afraid he would break her, passed the baby to Lucy. "Meet May Eileen Snape."

"May Eileen," Lucy whispered, looking down at the little baby she held, "It's pretty. _She's _pretty. Hi, baby. You listened well, didn't you? Mess with your father. He secretly likes it."

"Excuse me?" Severus asked, and Lucy could hear the raised eyebrow in his voice even though she hadn't looked up from May yet.

"I told her not to wait till her due date… and she listened," Lucy grinned, fascinated by this tiny person.

Dinah smiled at her husband, "I told Lucy about how you wanted her to be born on Wednesday. We asked if Maylene would mess with you a little and make sure to come early."

"I see…" he murmured, his lips quirking into a little smile, "I had forgotten about due dates, in all the excitement."

"Maylene?" Lucy asked. Sirius was still hovering near the end of the bed, not coming any closer, just watching the scene before him.

"Mm," Severus agreed, "It was Dinah's thought that 'Maylene', an infusion of the two names 'May' and 'Eileen' was also quite lovely. And gives us a way to differentiate her from Mae Yates, her namesake…"

"Well, that explains why Mae was so excited," Lucy smiled, turning to her husband, "Do you want to hold her?"

He looked like he had to physically stop himself from taking a step back, "Um, no, thank you."

"Oh… " Dinah looked a little sad while Severus sort of glared at him, "All right…" the former was clearly trying to be understanding.

Lucy frowned, "Well, at least come here. Look at her. She's not threatening at all. You held Harry."

"Lily forced me," Sirius admitted, inching closer to where Lucy sat. "Please don't take it personally, Dinah. I'm not trying to offend you. It's just…"

"It's okay… you don't _have_ to hold her. I know babies freak some men out, but… if you're going to be her Uncle Sirius…"

"You do not have to hold her but you _will_ not behave as though there is anything wrong with our child," Severus declared firmly.

"He's not trying to be mean by that," Dinah declared, reaching to take her husband's hand, "Just… what Lucy said. At least be able to sit beside her. Please?"

"I'm working my way there," he assured, before turning his gaze to Severus, "I never said there was anything wrong with her."

"He did the same thing with Anne. Teddy was a year old before he could climb on Sirius without the poor man squirming," Lucy assured, smiling as her husband came within arms' reach. She kept both hands on the sleeping newborn though.

"That's a little silly," Dinah said with a tired smile, "Severus was a bit nervous too when I put her in his hands for the first time, but he quickly fell for her…"

Severus cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed, "I did that from the moment I laid eyes on her. No, perhaps from the moment I saw her stubby mandrake form on the infernal ultrasound screen… or the day you told me you were having the baby. However, I wasn't sure about holding…"

"She's not breakable," Dinah chuckled, "Well, she is, but not easily so. Not when you're gentle."

"I know that now," he said, reaching to touch the baby's cheek.

"She is pretty cute," Sirius murmured, as he drew close enough to look over Lucy's shoulder.

"She's more than cute," Lucy grinned, "Do you think ours will be as cute?"

"I think our baby will be absolutely gorgeous," Sirius chuckled, kissing the top of her head, "How could it not with you as its mother?"

"Oh," Lucy sighed, getting teary-eyed, "First the flowers, now you choose to be all flattering…"

"Flowers?" Dinah smiled, exchanging a glance with Severus, "You got flowers?"

"Yes," she said, blushing, "A huge bouquet of hydrangeas. Just because."

"How sweet," she sighed, "I'm glad for you two. Well, I'm pretty much glad about everything right now, but…" she laughed. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you when I went into labor. We both sort of thought it would be better not to involve you in the stress. I was sort of yelling at everyone. Even poor Mae who was only trying to be helpful."

"You yelled at me as well and I was being _exceedingly_ helpful," Severus retorted.

Dinah smiled, "Yes, but I'm supposed to yell at you. That's tradition."

"It's okay," Lucy murmured, "You had other things on your mind. I'm just glad we're here now." She handed the warm baby back to Severus; she couldn't monopolize his daughter after all. "Do your parents know yet?"

She gave a happy nod, "I called them on my mobile just before you two got here. They're driving in tonight and tomorrow and bringing Aunt Mildred and Rosa and Luke and everyone just like at the wedding… I still have to talk to Minerva about Hogwarts access though…" she frowned.

"Oh, we could have them at Hogsmeade House!" Lucy offered, "Couldn't we, Sirius?"

"Of course," Sirius smiled, "It'd be our pleasure."

"Oh," Dinah gasped, trying to reach her arms over Severus to hug them, succeeding in only grasping both of their shoulders, "That's so nice. That would be wonderful. I mean, Minerva did say that we would work something at Hogwarts out if necessary but it would be better this way than to give her such short notice. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, wiping her eyes, "We should go… let you get some rest…"

"Okay," Dinah said, smiling as Severus returned Maylene to a secure place in-between them, "Thank you so much for coming. Drop by tomorrow morning, okay? Poppy says I should stay here for the night but tomorrow if everything looks okay we should all be able to go over to Hogsmeade together."

"I'll do my best," Lucy giggled, "I didn't get up until after noon today."

Dinah giggled as well, "Well, you're pregnant, that's allowed. I'm not pregnant anymore," she murmured, looking surprised as she placed a hand on her stomach, still a little expanded but not nearly so much as before, "I suppose my hormones will have to spend some time getting used to that again."

"Yeah, that and sleep deprivation. Babies wake a lot during the night I hear," Lucy said, letting Sirius help her stand. "At least you can stand up on your own again."

"I'm sure I'll be thrilled as soon as I try it," she smiled, cuddling up to Severus who pulled her in close, "Good night."

"Night," Lucy murmured, "Good night, Severus. Congratulations."

"Thank you. It… means a great deal that both of you came tonight. To both myself and Dinah. And for your offer of Hogsmeade House," he added, as Dinah closed her eyes and nodded, looking very content.


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

"Come on, Sirius," Lucy encouraged mid-morning, "Dinah's probably already been let out."

"I'm coming. I had to get the flowers sent ahead since you wanted them there," Sirius said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek.

"Mmm, thank you. I want it to look nice for Dinah's family," Lucy said, leading Sirius out of their rooms and up to the hospital wing. "Dinah? Severus? You three still here?"

"We're here," Dinah yawned, emerging from behind a curtain with Maylene in her arms, heading over to where Severus sat on one of the beds with their baby carrier. "Just getting her all set up for the trip…" she said as she strapped the infant in, "I just woke up myself and the little one was hungry, then we took our showers…" she chuckled at Severus, who looked highly grumpy considering his hair was in its 'fluffy' state.

Lucy chuckled, "Ah, yes you've reached that point where we currently are. Though I'm sure that's actually near the bottom of your list of things to do."

"Yeah, I hear the woman at least isn't really interested in sex for the first little while, though I'm sure by the middle of next week I'll be whining just as much as the both of you are. There, don't we look adorable," she gushed at her daughter, after waving her wand to bundle her in blankets and baby robes to combat the cold. Severus also managed to crack a smile.

"She looks like an adorable little Snape," Lucy cooed, "Mummy's tired. How's Daddy doing?"

"Ah," Severus flushed a little at his new title while Dinah hid an affectionate smile, "As well as can be expected… given I was forced to take a morning shower which I never do and must now take precautions to prevent the student body from seeing my hair in its current state."

"But you're cute," Dinah smiled, kissing the top of his head, making him smirk.

"Very cute," Lucy giggled, "but I think if anything people will focus more on Maylene than you, Sev."

"Aww, you called him Sev," Dinah was apparently in squealy mode right now, but her comment made Severus blush even more than he already was.

"He told me I could at the Yule Ball. I told you, remember?" Lucy smirked.

"Hmph," Dinah turned her nose up at the smirk, "I didn't say I'd never heard about it before I just said it was nice that you did."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Lucy said, feeling teary all of a sudden.

Dinah gasped, bolting over to hug her, "No, no, no, don't get upset, I wasn't upset, I just got a little huffy." She drew back and smiled, "Severus says my childish affliction isn't completely gone yet even though we now _have_ a child."

"Okay," Lucy sniffed, "It's fine. Really. Have you heard when your family's going to be here yet? Did you prepare them for encountering all of this?"

"All of what?" she asked gently, "Your emotional issues? If you recall, they saw it all at the shower."

"Well, yeah, my emotional issues… and the adorableness of their grandchild."

"Oh," Dinah blushed, "Well, I think they'll find out for themselves. Obviously I gushed on and on about her on the phone, but I don't think they would assume otherwise anyway. Oh, and they'll probably arrive around noon or so. They'll text my mobile when they're getting close."

"Text? Like a book?" Lucy asked, watching as Severus gathered up the baby carrier and they prepared to head out for Hogsmeade House.

"Oh. No. It's a relatively new thing," Dinah explained, "You can send written messages over your phone. Very convenient. Sort of like an alphanumeric pager. Or, well never mind," she grinned.

"All right," Lucy laughed, taking Dinah's arm. She'd never given birth before but she imagined it took quite a lot out of you and made your body a bit sore. It wasn't a short walk to the house and Dinah would need the support she was sure. "I'll just pretend I understood what you were talking about then."

Dinah smiled, "Thanks. It will be easier to show you when it happens than to tell you, anyway."

The walk to Hogsmeade House took much longer than normal, seeing as how most of their party couldn't walk that fast anyway. "Look!" Lucy said, a big grin on her face, "My flowers. Oh, you can put Maylene in the cradle if you want. Or there's a cot upstairs in One's room. We… or, well, Sirius, with the help of Tonks and Remus, set up nurseries here and at Grimmauld Place too. It just makes better sense than having to tote all that with us every time we want to come over here for the weekend."

"That's smart," Dinah smiled, walking over to the baby carrier and waggling her finger in front of the sleeping Maylene, before reaching in and lifting to cradle her in her arms, "Sev, we really need to plan a time to show her her other homes, too. London, and Spinner's End…" she sighed, smiling down at the bundle in her arms.

"Soon. Perhaps over the coming weekends," he agreed, wrapping his arms around them both, "You were thinking to put her in the cradle?"

"You read my mind," she smiled, "That way she's still down here for when they arrive."

Lucy waved her wand so the tiny cradle sat near the couch within easy reach. "There's a stopper on one end to keep it from rocking if you want. And I think the guys should escort your family here. Neither one of us should be doing too much right now."

"Okay," Dinah yawned, walking to place Maylene into the cradle and then sitting down to recline on the couch next to it, when they heard a beeping. "Oh, look! That's them already. Guess they just couldn't wait to get here and left early this morning," she held the mobile out to Lucy so that she could see the 'text'.

"Oh! It's kind of like an owl isn't it?" she asked, staring closely at the mobile her friend held.

"A little bit, yes. Severus, you don't mind going with Sirius to get them do you?"

"Not at all," he assured her, leaning over to kiss her forehead and brush her hair from her face. He then turned to regard Maylene and leaned over to gently kiss her as well, "Sleep well," he murmured, a little awkwardly but very sincere, "You get your rest, too," he told Dinah.

"Of course," she agreed, looking a little teary at what she'd just seen as she reached to squeeze his hand.

Lucy yawned too, waving both men out of the house, "Us three girls will all take naps while you're gone I'm sure."

"I can imagine," Severus agreed, consenting to depart with Sirius.

Dinah sighed happily again, lifting her feet up onto the couch and folding her hands beside her head, curling up on her side, "Isn't it all just so wonderful? And May'll sleep a lot for the first couple weeks too so we can all relax before it gets busy…" she trailed, yawning again.

"Mmm, yeah," Lucy agreed, transfiguring a chair into a loveseat and curling up. "The second task is next week… Charlie's brining the dragons… all the same kind."

"Really?" Dinah gasped, her head shooting up and her hair falling into her face, "That's wonderful! I almost forgot about it," she admitted sheepishly, tucking the intruding strands aside.

"Yeah. He's hopefully going to miss seeing One but that's a good thing for now…"

"What do you mean?" she asked, flopping onto her back and wiggling her legs in the air, obviously enjoying her newfound flexibility.

"Well, I don't want to be giving birth next week. It's a little early I think. Poppy did say I'm considered full term now so it'd likely be okay if I did go into labor now but we want to get as close to my due date as possible."

"Oh, right," Dinah nodded, now turning onto her stomach and propping her elbows up on the couch arm to face Lucy, "I interpreted the opposite at first. Like, you didn't want Charlie to see One right away, which obviously didn't make sense."

"No, no," Lucy assured, "I'd actually love it if he was here for the birth, but it doesn't look like the timing's going to work out."

"Mmm," she agreed, her eyes closing again.

Lucy let her eyes close too and all three ladies slept until they were awoken by a barely contained squeal.

"Aunt Mildred!" Dinah had bounded up from her spot on the couch and her nap in an instant, as Lucy turned to see that for once the older woman was hanging back a little bit, allowing Dinah to hug her parents first.

"Congratulations!" Dahlia gushed, pointing to the cradle, "Is that her? Is that Maylene? Can we see her?"

"Of course!" Dinah agreed, reaching in to take her baby into her arms again, holding her out for her parents to receive. Miraculously, Aunt Mildred was still hanging back, though she looked nearly unable to contain herself.

Lucy pushed herself up from her spot, a little jealous of Dinah's regained ability to move about with ease. "How was your drive up here, Ed?"

"Hm?" Ed asked, so wrapped up in staring at his granddaughter that he didn't seem to hear a word she'd said.

"Oh, nothing," Lucy grinned, "I was just wondering if you knew you'd wandered into Knockturn Alley."

"Yes, of course, dear. Dinah, she's beautiful," he said, blissfully unaware of what Lucy had said.

"She's perfect," Dahlia murmured, "She looks just like both you and Severus. Hello, baby. We're your Grandmum and Granddad…"

Dinah smiled, walking over to stand by Severus and link her arm with his, "I'm so glad you were able to make it down today."

"Nothing could have kept us away," Ed insisted.

"Yes, especially with me in tow," Aunt Mildred bragged, shifting from foot to foot in anticipation of her turn. But some invisible signals from her brother and Uncle Winston, who had a firm hold on her, must have been keeping her at bay. She turned instead to Lucy, "Must just make you want to meet yours even sooner, doesn't it?"

Lucy had started to tear up, watching Dinah's parents with their grandchild. Her own child would never have grandparents, not really. Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur were as close as it could get though and they were among the best she could have picked out for her baby. "Yeah," Lucy nodded, trying to swallow the tears.

Sirius came to sit down next to her, wrapping an arm around her and not asking her what was wrong. Over the last few months he'd gotten very used to her not always knowing why it was that she cried.

"Is something wrong, Lucy?" Rosa asked, after hugging Dinah hello and congratulating her and Severus.

"No, not really," Lucy shook her head, "It's just… um… I never had grandparents. I barely had parents. I just kind of always hoped my baby would have grandparents, but that's not going to happen. Henley… he's… not going to change… It just won't happen."

"Who's Henley?" Cousin Larry asked.

"Lucy's father," Sirius explained, pulling a hanky out of his pocket, "He's not… a good man."

"Oh…" Dinah's mother murmured, handing Maylene fully to her husband and moving to stand next to Lucy and put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry to hear that. You know you're always welcome to have your child spend time with us, right? I imagine yours and Maylene will be very good friends at any rate, just as you are such good friends with Dinah."

"Thank you," Lucy nodded, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take away from everyone meeting Maylene. It's these stupid hormones…" she said, biting her lip hard to try and stop the tears.

"Don't worry," Dinah assured, "Everything's just fine. Dad, you're going to have to let your sister have a turn now."

"Oh, never," Ed teased.

"Just like when we were kids, really, he's never been good at sharing" Aunt Mildred laughed, taking Dinah's comment as permission and hurrying to take Maylene from her brother.

As everyone gushed about the baby and Dinah and Severus hovered with them, Dahlia turned back to Lucy, "Thank you so much for having us here. It was so kind of you. Perhaps you should sit down; you don't need to strain yourself on our account."

"Oh," Lucy blushed, resuming her seat, having stood to join the group earlier, "I _am_ supposed to be putting my feet up. Swollen ankles, you know. It's really no problem to have you all here. Easier than trying to deal with getting into Hogwarts. If you need anything you're welcome to search about for it or have Sirius go get it for you. Or I could tell you where it is. Do you think Dinah has a chance of getting Maylene back from Aunt Mildred?" she teased.

"Mm, maybe if she goes home with her," Dahlia laughed.

"She might have some competition with my husband," Lucy giggled, gesturing to where Sirius was once again standing on the opposite side of the room.

"Um… is he all right?" she asked, frowning in consideration.

"It's all right, he's just afraid of babies," Dinah explained, coming up behind her mother.

"That will go away, won't it?" she asked, hoping Dahlia could give her some reassurance.

"Oh, I think so," she smiled, sitting down next to Lucy as they all began to get settled around in the seating area, Rosa and Luke hovering behind Aunt Mildred and her family waiting for their turn with the baby. "Men tend to be nervous around babies until they meet their own. Then again, I've never seen one stay that far away before," she giggled.

"Yeah," Lucy smiled, "I don't know what his problem is. So… do you feel different? Being a Grandmum and all now."

"Mm," she smiled, "I feel very happy and very excited… it will be so wonderful to watch the little one grow."

"Yes," Dinah agreed, plopping down on a chair next to Severus and scooting so that she was grasping her knees and leaning on him, looking tired again, "Though I'm afraid she's not very interactive at this stage yet."

"Well, at her age I think that's to be expected," Lucy teased.

"Oh, she's waking up! Oh look at those beautiful blue eyes!" Aunt Mildred cooed.

"She is very sweet, my dear," Uncle Winston said, "But perhaps you should allow Rosa and Luke their turn. After all, they have been waiting patiently and are trying for their own right now."

She sighed, but relented hold of the baby to Rosa. She and Luke came over to sit by Dinah and Severus, whose chair had been transfigured by the latter into a couch so there was more space.

"Here," Dinah murmured, leaning over and waving her wand, causing a variety of black and white shapes to appear swirling above Maylene's head. The pale eyes widened and became completely transfixed by them.

"Aww," Lucy sighed, "I think I could watch her forever…"

Dinah blushed with pride and even Severus looked pleased. "They say that babies like black and white contrasting patterns."

"Oh, yes, I've been reading about that," Rosa agreed, looking like she also couldn't take her eyes off of Maylene.

The little baby wiggled around some, her eyes following the shapes, and then her body began to sparkle a little, shimmering with barely discernible little gold flecks, before fading back into normalcy as she gave a little yawn.

"Oooh," Rosa murmured, looking curious as Severus and Dinah drew in gasps of awe.

Severus was beaming with pride, "A young witch."

"Minerva already confirmed it, but it's lovely to see," Dinah agreed, smiling at her husband, "You'd love her even if she was a squib, though."

"Of course," he insisted, "But…"

"I know," Dinah sighed, resting her head on his shoulder again, "I'm glad she's a witch, too."

"It makes things interesting, that's for sure," Lucy grinned. Her expression changed and she shifted around as a slight pain drifted across her abdomen.

"Oh!" Dinah leaped up from her spot on the couch to hover in front of Lucy, "Can I get anything for you? Do you need anything? I think we should have snacks!"

Severus chuckled, "You are quite… springy today, aren't you?"

She blushed, smiling shyly, "Well… I confess I'm enjoying my return to mobility. Oh, sorry, Lucy."

"It's fine," Lucy laughed, "I'd be enjoying it too if I were you. Thanks for the offer but I'm fine. Just those barxton things."

"Barxton things?" Dinah repeated, her expression quizzical.

"Yeah, you know, false labor."

"Oh, Braxton Hicks!" she nodded, "Right. Hey, Sirius, look, Luke isn't afraid of babies," she teased, pointing to where Luke had taken Maylene from Rosa.

The other man chuckled, looking a bit awkward as he shifted the baby into a more comfortable position, "Well, it does still take some getting used to… she's very sweet, though."

"Thank you," Dinah smiled, "She's been so good and quiet, too."

"She has been," Sirius agreed, "One of the better babies I've been around."

"Sirius," Lucy laughed, "Your total baby experience is Harry, Teddy, Anne, and May. Two of them are Tonks's offspring. I wouldn't expect much quiet from them."

Severus snorted, "Indeed."

"Be nice," Dinah gave him a playful swat, "Oh, she's fussing. Here, Luke, I'll feed her. Um… I hope no one minds. I can take her into the other room if you need me to," she offered, looking around for a response after gathering the baby back into her arms.

"Oh, drat," Lucy muttered, bringing her arms up to cover her chest. When Maylene had started to fuss, Lucy's body had had a rather natural reaction to the baby's cries of hunger. "I should, uh, sneak upstairs for a minute. You're welcome to join me if you want, Dinah."

"Oh!" Dinah blushed, nodding, "That sounds like the best idea. Come, Maylene my sweet. Let's follow Auntie Lucy upstairs and get some food into you." She waved sheepishly to the rest of the room and followed Lucy.

"Sorry about that," Lucy blushed, leading Dinah into the master bedroom, "I didn't mind if you fed her downstairs. Just when she started fussing I sort of…" she gestured to her damp chest.

"Yeah," Dinah nodded, sitting down and spreading her robes to allow Maylene to latch on and begin suckling, "It's no fun, but I'm sure it's not the first time it's happened to you."

"No," Lucy grinned, "It's not. Are you sure you're okay? I mean just yesterday she was still inside you…" she said, pulling off her dampened robes and grabbing another set from the wardrobe.

"I'm okay," Dinah grinned, "Quite elated right now, actually. Though I go back and forth between elated bouts of energy and sleepiness, and as I understand it over the next couple days I might get a little depressed. It hasn't started yet, though."

"Good," she nodded, fastening the buttons on the front of her robes. "If you want to get to know happy Lucy you can't be depressed Dinah."

Her friend giggled, "Yeah… but it wouldn't really be my fault. The hormones cause 'baby blues'. But postpartum depression is different. I'll try my best not to get that."

"I'm sure," Lucy agreed, taking a seat on the bed, "So… how does it feel? I mean I know what it feels like when Sirius… but does it feel different?"

Dinah's eyebrow went up, "You mean giving birth as opposed to sex? Highly different. Sex is fun, giving birth is not. Thank goodness for Poppy and her labor pain potions though."

Lucy laughed, "Well, actually I was referring to breastfeeding but it's good to know the pain potions are readily available when the time comes."

"Oh," Dinah laughed too, nodding, "This feels… different. I read in one of my sociology reading assignments at uni that if they're doing it 'right' it's supposed to be stimulating but I'm not feeling any of that. And really, how can it be done 'wrong' if they're getting the milk into them?"

"I don't know," Lucy smiled, "Tonks did say it can get painful though…"

"Perhaps when she gains a little bit more suckling strength," Dinah smiled, stroking her daughter's black fuzz.

"Perhaps… Now, Maylene," Lucy said to the suckling baby, "I know I told you to mess with Daddy but you might want to refrain from doing something like keeping him up all night. It won't be good for _anyone_ if you do that."

Dinah smiled, her eyes growing soft with affection as she stared down at hers and Severus's baby, "Yes. You'll soon learn that Daddy doesn't like to be woken up during 'sleep time'."

"Not at all," Lucy laughed, "Not even by adorable little foxes," she murmured, remembering the time she'd stayed in the dungeons with Severus and Dinah last year in her fox form.

"Mmm," Dinah agreed, giving Lucy a mushy smile.

"We should go back down when you're ready. I don't think Severus will thank us for leaving him down there with Aunt Mildred."

"Oh, maybe she's being good this time," Dinah laughed. In a few moments Maylene seemed to be finished with her milk and Dinah swaddled her back up in her blankets to carry her downstairs.

"You're back!" Aunt Mildred exclaimed, "I was just discussing with Severus our previous plans to have dear little Maylene visit with us for two weeks every summer." Sitting next to her, poor Severus was staring at the bowl of peanuts on the coffee table that Sirius must have brought out, looking about ready to try to drown himself in them.

"I guess not," Dinah teased, nudging Lucy.

"Doesn't look like it," Lucy giggled, "Aunt Mildred, won't Maylene be a little too young to spend two weeks with you this summer? I mean she'll still need to be fed…"

"Oh, well that's an easy enough solution, dear. This summer they'll all come! In fact, you and your young one are welcome as well. The more the merrier, I always say."

"But what about Sirius? I can't just leave him home alone," Lucy smiled and settled down next to her husband.

"Oh, goodness, did I sound like he wasn't included in that? That wasn't my intention, of course he is included, isn't that right, Severus?"

"Anything you say," Severus said wearily, his gaze rolling up towards the ceiling.

Dinah giggled, walking over to stand by her own man and rescue him, placing Maylene into his arms, "Here, why don't you hold your baby?"

"Aw, see now Severus has no problem holding her," Lucy teased her husband.

"Yes and he looks so comfortable doing it too," Sirius muttered, looking a little embarrassed.

"He does get a little flustered when she fusses but he's doing so good," Dinah smiled, rubbing her husband's arm while he flushed, also embarrassed.

"He'll be all experienced and stuff by the time you hold a baby and then he'll tease you," Lucy said, sticking her tongue out.

"Hmm, I suppose I might find some enjoyment in that," Severus mused as Dinah yawned again and snuggled into his shoulder.

"Might?" Lucy laughed, "You enjoy teasing him now about… certain things."

He chuckled, leaning over to kiss the top of Dinah's head as she now seemed to be asleep much like her daughter, "That is true. Nothing personal, I assure you."

"Only because you're now in the same boat," Sirius returned.

"I would not say that makes my previous teasing malicious either," he sent back.

"Now, now boys," Lucy said, soothing Sirius's ruffled… fur, "I was thinking perhaps you two would like to take a trip down memory lane and go get us some food from the Three Broomsticks? Dinah's going to be starving when she wakes up, I'm hungry and I'm sure our guests are too."

"Madam Puddifoot's too? Aunt Mildred would like some sweets from there I'm sure," Sirius grinned.

"Ah, I see _that_ is your revenge," Severus glared at him. "I do not intend on stepping foot into that place ever again as long as I live. And Lucy, do you really think it wise to take this newborn into the Three Broomsticks?"

"Not at all. Newborns probably shouldn't be traveling much at all if it can be helped. I was thinking you'd leave her here. At least two of us here have been mothers before. I'm sure they'll be able to handle anything that might arise."

"Hm…" he looked cautious about this as all fathers should be. All good ones, anyway… Finally, he nodded, standing and being careful not to wake Dinah as he walked over to Lucy, "You may take her."

"Why thank you," Lucy said, gently accepting the sleeping infant.

"Be careful with her," he ordered, turning to Sirius, "Well, shall we get this over with? If you try to take me within an inch of Madam Puddifoot's I am Apparating back here and you will go in there alone."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Fine. We won't go in there, but I won't be blamed if she spots us walking around and chases us down the street."

"I think you are exaggerating," he said dryly, transfiguring a blanket to cover up Dinah and then heading out of the house with Sirius.

"Well, May," Lucy said, conversing with the littlest Snape, "What do you think of life so far? Pretty crazy, huh?"

Rosa sighed happily, "I'm sure. Lucy, you must be so excited that you're having yours soon. Doesn't looking at Maylene make you anxious for it?" she stood and walked over to sit next to Lucy and look down at the baby with her.

"Yes and no," Lucy admitted, "I, um, I've had a few problems along the way so the longer One stays in there the better."

"Everything looks well according to your healer though, I hope?" Dahlia asked, her brow furrowed in concern.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Actually, I'm thirty-seven weeks today so she says I'm technically full-term and if I did for some reason go into labor, she likely wouldn't try stopping it again."

"That's good to hear. I'm sure your baby is very healthy."

"Have you thought up any names for it yet?" Aunt Mildred asked, her face eager.

"Um, middle names, yes," Lucy said, handing the baby over to Dahlia.

"That's nice," Dinah's cousin Larry commented, munching on peanuts, "Are you keeping them a secret or…?"

"Oh, no, not at all. We're keeping the first names we discussed a secret; mostly because we haven't settled on any yet. If it's a girl the middle name will be Jennifer and if it's a boy… Regulus."

"Those are both lovely names!" Aunt Mildred gushed.

"Regulus…" Dahlia said thoughtfully, "Is that any relation to Sirius? They're both stars."

"His brother. They didn't get on well in life but Regulus did try to make up for his mistakes in the end."

"That's so nice," she smiled, "That he's honoring his brother in that way, despite their differences," she smiled down at the baby in her arms, "I understand this little one's middle name of Eileen was given for similar reasons."

"I believe so, yes," Lucy nodded, "Regulus was… he worked with the same people as Severus for a time. He… died trying to right his wrongs. Sirius was disowned from his family… and he was imprisoned when it all happened so he didn't know until much later. I had to talk him into the name. The celestial theme is… a family tradition I guess you'd say."

"Yes," Dahlia said thoughtfully, stroking Maylene's hair and adjusting her blankets to wrap more tightly around her, "Dinah has told us about Severus's past with those Death Eaters. So many in your world were caught up in the previous war." She stood and walked over to sit next to where Dinah lay on the couch, still sleeping peacefully on her side. Dahlia smiled and exchanged a knowing glance with her husband, reaching to tuck a stray strand of hair out of Dinah's eyes, "Our own dear girl here was always hiding, afraid to get caught up in the war and afraid of returning to your world. But Severus has made her comfortable in it again, and for that we are so grateful. He is a good man and he loves Dinah and this little one very, very much." She smiled again when Dinah made a little happy, humming noise in her sleep. The new mother's joy was obvious even when she wasn't awake to say so.

"Yes, he is," Lucy agreed, "though a terrifying professor. Some would probably say I was lucky enough to be rather small during the first war, but I still remember… My mother lost her life to Death Eaters. For no reason other than she didn't readily fall in with Voldemort's beliefs." she shook her head, trying to dismiss the memories, "Still… eventually good things came out if it."

"Oh, you poor dear," Aunt Mildred gasped.

Moving again, Dahlia returned to sit next to Lucy, "Then you are quite an amazing person to be able to forgive those who had been Death Eaters in the past," she said, putting a hand on Lucy's, "I'm sure your mother would be very proud."

"Thank you," Lucy said, her voice husky, "I like to think so."

Aunt Mildred chuckled, "You see where Dinah gets some of her idealism from?"

Lucy chuckled, "Yes, I think I do. It's an interesting thing. Dinah fought for them to make one of the Tournament's tasks more fair and now she might not see it. Depending on how she's feeling I suppose."

"Oh, what is the policy on bringing babies to Tournament events?" Aunt Mildred asked.

"I don't know," Lucy admitted, "I don't know that it's happened before. But the task will take place outside and depending on the weather it might be a bit cold for a newborn."

"Well, we shall see what Dinah wants and how Dinah feels when the time comes," Ed said, smiling affectionately at his sleeping daughter, "I still remember when she was born… you slept just as much, for days, I recall," he smiled at his wife.

Dahlia chuckled, "I did. Lucy, expect your couches to be fully occupied by my daughter any time she visits for the next week or so."

"Oh, she can have one couch and I'll take the other," she assured, "One's dropped so breathing's a bit easier now but I still get winded and tired easily."

"That's pregnancy for you," she grinned, "Rosa, are you _sure_ you want this experience too?"

Rosa laughed, taking her husband's hand, "Yes, I'm sure. But I might be asking you and Dinah for advice quite often, Lucy. They say every pregnancy is different."

"That's fine. Although, I warn you mine's been rather rough. Constantly sick in the early months… all this stress causing some early contractions… Would you like to feel?" she asked gesturing at her stomach, "One's being rather wiggly at the moment."

"You wouldn't mind?" Rosa blushed, allowing Lucy to take her hand and move it to her belly, "Oh! I felt something!"

Lucy laughed, "Of course I don't mind. Besides, something no one bothered to tell me was that once you're pregnant your stomach becomes public property. You get used to it."

"Yes, that's true," Aunt Mildred smiled, standing and walking over, "That being said, I think it's my turn to feel."

"Of course," Ed rolled his eyes.

"Well, at least she backed off when we arrived," Uncle Winston offered, "You must learn to be grateful for small miracles, Ed."

"Brothers don't have to put up with as much as husbands do," he returned, walking over to sit next to his wife and take a turn with Maylene while Aunt Mildred felt around Lucy's belly.

Lucy took the older lady's hand and moved it to a better spot, "Right here, Aunt Mildred. My those two seem to be taking a long time. I wonder what the holdup is."

"Maybe your husband took Severus into that Madam Broomstick's place he was whining about," Larry suggested.

"Oh, no. I doubt that," Lucy laughed, "Sirius might have tried, but I don't think Severus would have gone in. Last time they went in there Madam Puddifoot thought they were… a couple."

"A couple?" Dahlia giggled, "Oh, well, that must certainly have set Severus off. No wonder he doesn't want to go back."

"The dear boy does seem to have some anger issues, it's true," Aunt Mildred added, "Goodness, your little one is active today, Lucy."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, blushing, "One tends to do that right about the same time my energy plummets, ensuring that I get no sleep."

"We have returned with the food," Severus's voice said from the doorway, as Lucy looked over to see that indeed he and Sirius were back now, holding some bags of food. "We received no instruction so I can only hope our choices are satisfactory."

"I'm sure it's fine," Lucy giggled, "Dinah will eat just about anything and I'm not currently experiencing any cravings."

"I told him if you guys wanted anything in particular you would have mentioned it. I did suggest that Dinah might have appreciated some of that pudding cake from Madam Puddifoot's but he wouldn't hear of it," Sirius grinned, coming over to give Lucy a peck on the cheek.

"I said _you_ could go in and order it but you refused to go without me you infernal dog," Severus retorted, coming over to sit next to his still-slumbering wife and run his fingers through her hair, "I can only hope she is satisfied with the custard tart desserts we selected at the Three Broomsticks. I know she is normally willing to eat anything but it would be fool of me to try and predict what her _post_-pregnancy hormones might do to her appetite."

"Perhaps we should wake her and move into the dining room. We can bring the cradle with us too," Lucy offered.

"All right," Severus nodded, turning his gaze to his father-in-law, "Maylene slept the entire time?"

"Yes," he agreed, coming over to hand May back to Severus, patting him on the shoulder, "Babies do that, though in about a week she will probably be a good deal less predictable." He smiled, "It's quite a new experience, isn't it? Being a father."

"Indeed…" Severus agreed, regarding his sleeping daughter, "I can only hope I will be better than my own was. That's what I want for this child…"

"If you feel that way, then you certainly will be," Dahlia smiled.

"Yes, I agree," Lucy said, letting Sirius help her up off the couch, "All three of us will be."

"Dinah…" Severus murmured, stroking his wife's hair again.

"Mmmmm," she hummed, smiling and scooting up closer to her husband, the top of her head pushing against his leg, but clearly not waking up, "Sev'rus…"

"Here," Lucy said, digging into one of the bags Sirius held, "A… double bacon cheeseburger. Wave it under her nose like smelling salts… see if that helps."

Severus offered Lucy a raised eyebrow, but took the burger, dutifully holding it in front of Dinah's nose, though he didn't wave it. It was enough, though, because her eyes popped open. "For me?" she murmured sleepily, reaching to take the burger.

He chuckled, "Yes, my love, if you so choose."

"We were all going to eat in the dining room. We were hoping you'd join us. Severus brought dessert and Aunt Mildred can't keep her hands off me," Lucy said, good naturedly.

"Yes, because her little one is just so active right now," Aunt Mildred beamed, having stood along with Lucy and kept her hands feeling around her belly.

"Perhaps it is time to let her eat, though," Uncle Winston said, quietly taking his wife's arm and leading her away towards the dining room.

Dinah smiled at her aunt and uncle, then turned to look at Maylene's sleeping form in Severus's arms, using her burger-free hand to touch the baby's little cheek, "She seems peaceful."

Severus nodded.

"Just until she wants another feed, or needs her nappy changed, or has gas, or something," Lucy grinned, "Dahlia, before we go through, now that Aunt Mildred has relinquished me, would you like to…?"

"Oh, why thank you, Lucy," Dahlia smiled, coming over to feel her, "Goodness, your baby _is_ quite active, isn't the dear?"

"Yes," Lucy grinned, "Takes after its father."

"How nice," she smiled at Sirius, "I look forward to seeing you with your child. You'll be surprised how quickly that nervousness goes away."

"I'm sure it will," Sirius nodded, "I like kids. I just… don't know about the really tiny ones."

Severus snorted, standing and helping his wife up from her seat, using his arms to both steady her and hold their child between them, "I find the tiny ones much more agreeable than the young, loud, grimy ones."

"Oh, what grimy?" Dinah laughed.

"Small children…" he grumbled disdainfully, "Like to do things such as roll around in dirt and play with their food rather than eat it. And then they reach Hogwarts age and wreak havoc among their Professors."

"Oh, no, you don't have issues at _all_," Dinah teased.

"I don't have a problem with rolling around in the dirt or 'wreaking havoc among the Professors'," Sirius boasted.

"For now," Lucy said, mysteriously. Sirius had been in talks with Minerva to at least help out with tutoring some students in Transfiguration. They hadn't told anyone about it yet though and didn't plan to until everything was set. Lucy was confident he would enjoy it and be good at it too. Sirius was less so.

Luckily no one pressed them too closely on her comment and they all enjoyed a nice late lunch, doting over Maylene when she woke again. Too soon, the Samsons had to leave if they were going to make it to a decent hotel before it got too late.

While Sirius and Severus escorted the family back to their cars, Lucy and Dinah cleaned up the house before they were to head back to Hogwarts.

"Still feeling okay?" Lucy asked, using her wand to direct the broom around the kitchen floor.

"Wonderful," Dinah smiled, leaning against the counter and cradling Maylene, "Well, I'm a bit tired, but I'm sure Severus will let me sleep a lot tonight and take care of her for me. I've got to start thinking about filling some bottles with breast milk in the near future, too."

Lucy giggled, "Yeah, I don't think Severus is going to be able to feed her much through the night without those."

She grinned and nodded, "Lucy, thanks again for letting us all gather here. It's been such a lovely afternoon."

"Oh, it's no problem," Lucy blushed, "I enjoy your family. Even Aunt Mildred," she teased.

"She does have a certain charm, it's true," Dinah chuckled.

"Yes," Lucy agreed, "but she means well. One was having a fun-filled time in there when she was feeling," she said, directing the broom back to it's place.

"Your baby is so squirmy," Dinah teased, "Maylene is so quiet."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed, "she is. I take it Hermione will be in charge tomorrow then? You know this means you'll likely have a hundred student visitors an hour."

"You think so?" Dinah blushed, "Well, I suppose most news _does_ get out quick at Hogwarts, doesn't it?"

"Oh, just slightly," Lucy laughed, "As far as I know Dumbledore and Severus were the only people able to keep secrets here. Well, and Remus to an extent too. Most didn't know about…"

"Yeah," Dinah sighed, "Until…"

"Yes, well," Lucy murmured, thinking about how Severus had leaked Remus's condition resulting in the latter's resignation from his DADA position, "it all worked out eventually, and for the good. We often do things in anger or… spite that we later regret. I don't think he'd do such a thing _now_."

"No," Dinah smiled, breathing a sigh of relief, "He wouldn't. I'm glad you think so and there are no hard feelings. I wasn't sure, when you brought it up like that... "

"No, of course not," Lucy shook her head.

"Are you ladies ready to go?" Sirius asked as the two men entered the kitchen.

"I am if Dinah is."

"I am," Dinah agreed, adjusting Maylene in her arms and smiling at her husband.

"All right," Sirius said, helping Lucy up out of her chair, "I think everyone's going to sleep well tonight when we get back."

"I'm tired already," Dinah confessed, yawning.

"Then it's a good thing we're leaving now," Sirius said, leading them out of the house and back to Hogwarts.


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter 73

"Charlie," Lucy sighed as her cousin slid into the row ahead of them in the stands as the assembled crowd waited for the second task of the Triwizard Tournament to begin. There was a new and obvious burn covering his left shoulder.

"It's nothing," he said, shrugging it off and brining his cloak up around his shoulders so the wound was no longer visible, "One of the Antipodean Opaleye's just got a little… upset."

"You should have that looked at," Dinah said in a friendly but slightly chastising tone from where she sat on Lucy's other side, her arms occupied in keeping Maylene bundled up tight against the cold. "Could it have gotten upset because you were messing around with its nest in order to take its real egg away from it and replace it with a false one? And now it thinks that false one is real and it's going to be stolen from it? You like dragons… isn't that kind of unfair to them?"

Charlie opened his mouth to respond when a small, dark-haired young woman with almond-shaped eyes took hold of his hand. "Charlie," she said, softly, "The lady is right. You should have it looked at. You know…"

"Vi," he interrupted, with a smile, "I'll get it looked at later. I want to watch… make sure everything goes well… Incidentally, you should meet my cousin, Lucy," he said, gesturing to her, "her husband, Sirius, and their friends, Dinah and Professor Snape. And their baby…"

"May," Lucy supplied, "And I think you might be allowed to call him Severus as you're not in school now."

"Habit," Charlie defended.

Severus just smirked and didn't say anything one way or another, leaning over to take a glance at Maylene and help Dinah make sure her blankets were secure.

"It's nice to meet you," Dinah said to Charlie's companion, as usual the more civil of the pair.

"You too," Violetta nodded, "Your baby is being very good. I'm Violetta, by the way. Charlie forgot to mention that. I work in Romania with the dragons with him."

"Thank you," Dinah smiled, "She's still very young. We probably won't be able to stay out for the entire task. You work with the dragons, too… isn't making them think their egg is getting stolen a bit mean?" she pressed the issue again, while Severus just shook his head at her in amusement, used to her habits.

"Yes…" Violetta hesitated, "in a way. The crowds and putting them in chains make it quite a bit worse really. Once this is all over they'll settle down well."

"Oh…" Dinah frowned, "I see. Well, I suppose if they settle…"

"Mm. Recall your priorities," Severus reminded his wife, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "You were able to get them to use the same dragon, after all."

"Right…. one achievement at a time…" she agreed, "I'm sure you two will take good care of them."

"Yes," the Romanian girl nodded.

"But not until after we take care of this burn," Lucy said, trying to gently and inconspicuously peel Charlie's cloak from his burnt shoulder.

"Not until after the task, Lu," her cousin insisted, pushing her hand away. "I want to make sure the chains hold. If another one gets loose…"

"They won't," Violetta urged, "You secured them yourself. And the Opaleyes are much more even-tempered than the Horntail anyway."

"That's good," Dinah smiled, "They're quite beautiful creatures, really. I like the Swedish Short Snouts best, though. They're adorable."

"You've told us," Severus said, amused.

"Charlie, stop it," Lucy scolded as he shoved her hand away again, "You're so stubborn."

"And you're turning into Mum," he grumbled.

"I'm not turning into Aunt Molly. I'm pregnant. I'm… nesting or something. Besides, it's not like I'm trying to cut your hair."

Charlie grinned and rolled his eyes, "Listen to me, kid," he said to her stomach, "and don't come out. This is one crazy family you're joining."

"Yes," Lucy murmured, "please stay in just a bit longer."

"I wouldn't worry," Dinah smiled, "Oh, look, I think they're starting."

Oceane was the first contestant to emerge from the tent set aside for their preparation… It would also serve for the tending of any injuries sustained in the task.

The dragon lay sleeping in the center of the arena, though it didn't last long when Oceane stumbled on some rocks, the noise indicating to the dragon, as the crowd's murmur had not, that it was in danger.

Charlie was so absorbed in keeping watch over his dragons that he barely noticed Lucy and Violetta peeling back his cloak and doing what they could for his burn.

"I think he really needs a salve," Lucy told Violetta. She really liked this young dragon keeper that had captured the attention of her cousin. The Romanian girl seemed very sweet and much more demure than Lucy would have thought someone who worked with dragons would be. There was a strength in her though, as evidenced by her determination to take care of Charlie's burn and her total lack of squeamishness over it.

"Mmm. I would agree."

"Best leave them to it, Charlie," Sirius advised when Charlie started to grumble.

"We have some salve in our stores, don't we, Sev?" Dinah asked her husband, "You could summon some over here. That way they don't have to wait to talk to Poppy."

He sighed, nodding, "If you feel it's necessary."

"Oh, I think it is," Lucy nodded, as Oceane transfigured rocks into sheep, pigs, and cows to distract the nesting mother dragon. "Don't you?" she asked, attempting to turn Charlie so Severus might see the burn better.

"It could use some attention, yes," he grumbled, flicking his wand but not saying anything in particular.

"Don't worry, it's coming," Dinah said proudly, "Severus doesn't always have to speak the incantation to get his magic to work."

Her husband just grunted and pretended to be brushing something from his cloak, obviously a little embarrassed at his wife's praise.

Charlie chuckled, "I know. He was my professor once too. Though I don't recall him ever giving _me_ detention."

"Oh, hush," Lucy said, good naturedly shoving at his uninjured shoulder.

"Perhaps you were less of a deviant than your cousin," Severus said, still focused at his cloak but almost sounding amused.

Sirius scooted a couple inches away from them, encouraging Violetta to do the same.

"Deviant, am I?" Lucy questioned, turning a glare to Severus, "I believe my argument was sound. _You_ just didn't want to accept that a student might be right," she said haughtily.

"'Right', is a relative term," he smirked back, "While the ingredient you wanted to substitute would have been adequate, it was not the best choice, nor what I intended to grade you on."

Lucy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Meanwhile the crowd kept to a low murmur as Oceane crept closer to the golden egg. Lucy opened and closed her mouth a couple times before deciding on her comeback, "My argument was logically sound… whether or not you intended to grade the potion with the original ingredient."

"I believe I was teaching Potions, not logic," he countered.

"Oh, pah!" Lucy huffed, waving her hands around, "Potions need a great deal of logic and you know that."

"Regardless, I am the instructor, you were the student. My decisions are my own and it is completely irrelevant whether they are 'fair' in your eyes or not," he concluded, while Dinah gave a good-natured roll of the eyes.

"Whatever," Lucy grinned, "You like me now."

"I admit I never imagined that I would be having this debate with you, post-graduation, under these circumstances," he admitted with a slight smile.

"I'm sure you never gave me a second thought after I finished Hogwarts… at least until the new Order came to be," Lucy grinned, shaking her head.

As Severus went to answer the salve arrived, hovering over his shoulder.

"I'm sure I didn't," he agreed, uncorking it and handing the open bottle to Lucy, "Any more than I thought of any of my students specifically at that point in my life."

"Save perhaps some Slytherin ones," Dinah teased, making it her husband's turn to roll his eyes.

Lucy accepted the vial, dabbing some of the mixture onto her hand, turning to spread it over Charlie's wound.

"That's cold!" he protested as Sirius and Violetta scooted back over to them.

"It's February in northern Scotland and you've got exposed skin. Of course it's cold," Lucy countered. As she finished up with the salve and handed the vial back to Severus, the crowd erupted in cheers when Oceane acquired the golden egg and Charlie and Violetta ducked out to help take care of the transfer of dragons.

"Excellent!" Lucy praised, "That should get her a better score than her performance in the Lake Task."

Dinah yawned, "I'm getting tired and it's probably time to get this little one out of the cold," she gestured to Maylene, "then feed her and get some rest. I'd like to stay and see Amedeus, but he's last I believe and…"

Severus nodded, "All right. We'll go in."

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to," she assured him, "I can just go in by myself if you want to stay and watch Amedeus." When he just gave her a smirk in response she smiled and wrapped her free arm around his waist, snuggling her head into his shoulder, "I love you."

"Oh, don't worry, we'll make sure to tell you all about it," Lucy assured.

"Why don't you tell Charlie and Violetta when they get back that after the task you're all welcome to come to our place for snacks?" Dinah suggested, "I didn't get a chance to thank him about arranging for the same three dragons and I'd like to."

Severus sighed, "Is that really necessary?"

"Please?" his wife begged, batting her eyelashes.

He scowled, "If we must."

Lucy laughed, "I'm sure he'll be thrilled with Severus's enthusiasm. Violetta won't know what to expect of course. I'll let them know though and see what they say."

"Good," Dinah grinned.

Severus sighed again and shook his head, "All right. _However_," he turned to his wife, "If it turns out that you get _moody_ again," he said, stroking a finger down her nose and tapping the tip to emphasize his point, "We are going to cancel." For the past couple of days Dinah had been experiencing the 'baby blues', being rather moody and depressive as was the norm for new mothers in the early weeks after giving birth. Lucy had been sort of surprised to see her so cheerful today.

"Don't worry," Dinah assured, grimacing, "If I get moody I'll cancel it myself. Not sure why this is such a good day. Maybe the weather, or the excitement of the Tournament…"

"Maybe you're starting to feel better," Lucy offered, "Just be careful it doesn't get worse. If someone like _you_ gets depressed I'll have no hope of not becoming so."

"It would be nice if the moodiness is gone… we'll see," Dinah grinned. "And I think you'll be find, Lucy."

"Thanks," Lucy blushed, "Now, hurry on inside. You don't want that baby catching a cold."

"All right," Dinah agreed, "Have fun." Severus gave a brief nod and the three Snapes left the stands to head for home.

For the next two contestants it was just Lucy, Sirius, and One. They could see Charlie and Violetta standing together down near one of the entrances with the other Dragon Keepers, his arm slung over her shoulders.

Nikolina went second and quickly retrieved her egg. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful at snatching the egg before suffering a moderate burn to her side. Lucy was thankful Madam Pomfrey had been prepared for such an occurrence and stocked up on burn salves.

Amedeus's turn came last. He made quite the show of spelling the dragon into some sort of inebriated state. Both Sirius and Lucy thought that the Slytherin boy might have scored well except for the incident where the dragon had rolled to one side, trapping Amedeus beneath its tail and forcing the Dragon Keepers to come to his rescue.

Oddly enough it ended up that the Champions had placed in the order that they'd attempted the challenge. Oceane redeeming herself with a first place win, Nikolina getting second, and Amedeus coming in third. Lucy felt bad for him. He was a Muggle-born Slytherin and he'd come in last for a mistake that he couldn't have foreseen. She wondered how bad the others would rag on him once everyone was back in their common rooms.

* * *

><p>Waiting for a potion he had brewing to finish – he needed to replace his store of the salve he had wasted on the Weasley boy, Severus leaned against the table and watched as his wife finished feeding their newborn daughter. He was glad to see that Dinah's mood remained cheerful, even if it <em>did <em>mean they had to host those two for 'snacks'.

Part of him had wished to stay and watch the rest of the Tournament, but he happily had his priorities in the correct order in his life now, and would rather watch his beautiful wife and their child, have them know that he was there for them.

A whistling noise indicated that the salve was ready, and he set about putting it into the vial he had prepared, using a cleaning spell to refresh the cauldron now that his efforts were completed . It was then, while he was doing this, that he heard the melody.

It was as though he could feel his pulse physically drop and his entire body relax to a degree he was still getting used to, but loved, when the melodic tone of his wife's voice reached his ears. Spelling the vial of salve to float back into its proper spot in his cupboards, he turned his attention to where his wife had finished feeding and replaced her robes, and was now singing Maylene a soft lullaby, while the tiny eyes of the life form they had created began to drift shut.

This was a life that he had once never even dared imagine for himself, and now it was here. To think that he was married to this angel, and had produced with her the smaller angel – perhaps cherub was a good metaphor – that lay falling asleep in her arms. It was, as he had always said, a miracle, and one which distracted him from all thoughts of the Tournament or potions-making. He just wanted to go over and join his family.

A smile playing on his lips, he made his way to the couch and settled in next to his wife, her grey eyes meeting his and softening as her lips formed their own gentle smile. They didn't need to say anything. Their smiles communicated more to each other, he thought, than a thousand words could. They turned to look down at Maylene together, watching as the tiny infant girl drifted to sleep from the lullaby.

Although Severus was still getting used to handling babies, he did not shy away from reaching to touch her soft cheek, thinking of how the life that his daughter would live growing up would be so much better than his own and how he and Dinah would be sure to see to that.

Dinah's voice was soft and beautiful, and he felt his own body slowing down as well as he watched his daughter drift to sleep. He did not even have to make a conscious effort as his head moved to rest against his wife's shoulder, his eyes beginning to close. Maylene would be safe in their arms, even if Dinah also fell asleep, which he thought she might, given the way her cheek moved to rest against his head and her voice grew a little softer, but did not stop singing.

There were no worries, no discomfort, and certainly no need to use Occlumency to hide his emotions. He was free now. Dinah had freed him, and there was no place he would rather be than in this bliss, in this freedom with his family, a place full of love and light.

This was right where he belonged.


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Lucy waited for Charlie and Violetta to finish up with the dragons before extending the invitation to come down to the dungeons. Charlie looked less than thrilled, even a little apprehensive, while the Romanian girl had no idea what might lie in store for a long visit with Severus Snape. Even so, Sirius led them back to the castle and down to the dungeons, knocking on the office door when they arrived.

When no one answered, Lucy cautiously eased the door open and went through, encouraging the others to follow but not touch anything. She felt no qualms about walking into her friends' living room.

"Oh!" Violetta gasped as their eyes all found the Snapes snuggled up together and fast asleep on the couch. "Perhaps we should leave them be…"

"Maybe," Lucy agreed, "They did invite us down but obviously they're exhausted with the new baby and all."

"Come on," Charlie encouraged, tugging on Violetta's arm, "We should go. Let them sleep."

"I think we should try waking them," Sirius insisted, grinning. "It'll be fun. Besides, they knew we were coming."

"Mmph," Dinah chose that moment to mumble, shifting a little and snuggling closer to her husband. She must have pushed her head into his in a weird way or something because his eyes popped open and he shifted, looking first at her with an affection in his gaze that he probably wouldn't be happy Charlie was witnessing.

"What?" he asked her.

"Huh?" Dinah replied, opening her eyes to look at him.

But the almost animal instincts of Severus Snape did not take long to kick in. He slowly turned and his eyes widened as he caught sight of them, his lips curling into a frown; "What is this?"

"What's what? Oh!" Dinah gasped, blushing when she spotted them.

"You said to come over… We tried knocking but… I hope it's okay," Lucy said, worried she might have offended her friends.

"Oh," Dinah hid her face with her free hand, clutching the still-sleeping Maylene closer with the other, "No, it's okay. We left the doors unlocked since we knew you were all coming but we fell asleep… It's okay, right Sev?" she asked her husband.

"It is not ideal," he said through gritted teeth, but shook his head when she looked worried, tilting her chin up so she could meet his eyes better, "But don't worry; I shan't let it ruin our moment," he assured her, briefly kissing her lips as the affection returned to his eyes and smile.

Dinah smiled and nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling back in before turning to their guests, "Please make yourselves comfortable. You're still welcome here. I'll go get snacks in just a moment."

Lucy gratefully sank into a chair. At thirty-eight weeks pregnant she wasn't meant to be traipsing all over Hogwarts. "Sit down," she encouraged the others, "Severus doesn't bite. Well, he's never bitten me anyway but then he likes me."

"Oh, now, he's never actually said that," Dinah teased her husband after he'd opened his mouth but before he could say anything.

Lucy chuckled when Severus's smirk at his wife confirmed that he had been about to say something along those lines. He stood and held out his hands; "Give me the girl. I shall take her to her cot while you arrange for the snacks."

Dinah giggled and nodded, handing Maylene to Severus as she told Lucy, "He calls her 'the girl' sometimes."

"That's kind of cute… in an odd sort of way. I'm going to wait until you're both back before I tell you how the task went." Knowing how good Severus was getting with his own child made Lucy more confident Sirius would learn as well when the time came.

Severus ducked into the nursery while Dinah bustled about setting out bowls and pouring pub mix with nuts and crunchies on the table, using the Muggle method. Not much longer and Lucy would be once again able to move about like that. At least that's what she kept telling herself.

"I'm glad you could come," Dinah told Charlie and Violetta when Severus had made his way back inside and they had all settled around the dining table and begun munching on snacks. "I wanted to say thank you for your efforts in obtaining the three Antipodean Opaleyes so the dragons would all be the same species. I really appreciate your willingness to put up with my silly, idealistic requests," she grinned.

"You're welcome," Charlie said, still looking uncomfortable, "It was extremely lucky they were all available at the same time. That doesn't usually happen."

She nodded, "I really do appreciate it. And this way we can truly compare the abilities of the three champions under similar scenarios. It's actually more logical that way, too."

"More logical maybe," Charlie conceded, "but not always the most practical of solutions. We can't guarantee what dragons will lay at the right time."

"Well, I didn't think of that part," Dinah grumbled, and then sighed as she floated cups of tea over to them and took one of her own, "Sorry. I hope that didn't come out sounding _too_ irritable."

"Not at all," Violetta assured, "Charlie just gets bothered when he thinks people believe we have much more control over dragons than we actually do. Not that he thought that when you made your request and he wouldn't now except that the burn has made him irritable."

"I am not!" Charlie protested.

Lucy laughed and shook her head, deciding it was better if she didn't say anything on that subject.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't assume they were tameable or anything," Dinah said, "That's Hagrid's department, after all. I imagine you two disapprove of anyone trying to keep them as pets in that fashion."

"The _point_," Severus interjected with a scowl, having appeared to be growing more and more impatient as the conversation wore on, "Is, what are the results of the Tournament?" he demanded, fixing them all with a stare, "I do not hear celebration or cheering in the halls; I can only assume this does not bode well."

"Oceane did well…" Lucy hesitated. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what his reaction would be when he found out what happened to Amedeus.

"Then our boy lost," Severus's frown deepened, "Then at least he must have come in second?"

"Not exactly," Sirius said.

"He performed really well," Lucy said, starting off with the good part, "He might have tied for first if the dragon hadn't rolled…"

Dinah gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, "Did it squish him?"

"Only a little bit," Lucy admitted.

"We had to go get him!" Charlie grumbled, "He made Lolita drunk!"

"She wasn't drunk," Lucy protested, "She just thought she was and passed out. It was a good strategy with little harm to the dragon involved. It's not Amedeus's fault she chose to roll over."

"Then he came in _last_," Severus scowled, but didn't get to say any more when Dinah interrupted him with a squeal.

"Aww, you name the dragons? That's so nice!"

"Yes," Violetta laughed, "Nice and also convenient when we have to refer to one of them specifically."

"We still have Norbertta too. Hagrid will be glad to hear that," Charlie said, not quite so grumpy now.

"Oh, yes, I heard that story," Dinah smiled, "Harry hasn't published it in his planned autobiographies yet so the version I've heard goes much like: 'And those infernal children had the nerve to sneak off in the middle of the night and transport an illicit baby dragon as though they owned Hogwarts and had every right to flaunt their blatant disregard for the rules'."

Charlie laughed, "Well, they _were _just trying to keep Hagrid from getting into trouble. It's illegal to keep dragons as pets after all."

"True, but I think Severus would have preferred anyone do it but them. Though I suppose the point is that had any adult done it he _would_ have gotten in trouble."

"Hmph. 'Getting in trouble' is character building, though I don't imagine it would have changed Hagrid's mind any about keeping further wild pets," Severus snorted. "Meantime I am more concerned with this loss for Hogwarts. I can only imagine the earful I'm going to get from Slughorn over how this will cause Slytherin's image to suffer," he said, more to Dinah than to anybody else.

"Mm, but he still has a chance to redeem himself. And Lucy says it was more a technicality. The loss, that is," Dinah said, putting her hand over her husband's.

"Technicalities are even worse," he grimaced.

"Only because you know you did well and were penalized for something that wasn't your fault," Lucy said.

Dinah sighed, "I suppose they have to come up with something to penalize, though it's unfortunate."

"It's more than unfortunate," Lucy shrugged, "but what can we do? Nothing we do is going to help Amedeus win that task so…"

"We can give him our support and encouragement, though," Dinah decided, "I'm sure everyone will. Even Slughorn and Severus, when they get past their bruised egos," she teased her husband, nudging her shoulder against his.

"Hm," he snorted, though a hint of a smile played on his lips, "Well, perhaps he will do better in the final task."

"Of course he will," Sirius said, "With Slughorn and Severus's support I think he'll do well."

Everyone turned to look at him and Severus raised both eyebrows in surprise at the sort of offhand compliment, "Mm… yes… I'm sure we intend to make it so…" he hesitated.

Dinah smiled, "That's nice. Thank you, Sirius."

Sirius smirked and blushed, "If he wasn't supportive I think he'd have _you_ to deal with, Dinah. I'm not sure any man wants to go up against an angry woman."

Severus smirked as well, pointing at Dinah. "You would be surprised to see how angry this one can get. Then again, maybe you wouldn't…" he trailed, frowning.

Dinah turned a deep shade of crimson and turned to Charlie, "Um… don't pay that too much mind. I'm really usually a very nice person."

"Of course you are," Violetta agreed. She, however, had no notion of what had gone on last year between Sirius and Dinah.

"Thanks," Dinah said, with a little softer blush this time and a smile. The rest of the evening continued on. Severus, in general, was anti-social but Dinah chatted up both Violetta and Charlie about dragons and praised them again and again for taking such good care of the animals. Eventually, dinner approached and it was quite clear Dinah wasn't going to torture Severus by having them host an entire meal, so they all said their good-byes.

"You're leaving early tomorrow then?" Lucy asked, as they stopped outside the rooms where the dragon keepers were staying.

"Unfortunately yes," Charlie confirmed, "I'd like to be able to stay for a couple more weeks but… duty calls."

"I know," Lucy sighed, "It'd be nice if you could come back more often but we're always glad to see you when you're here," she said, giving Charlie a big hug and turning to Violetta, "If we don't see you in the morning it was nice to meet you and I hope you both have a safe trip back."

"Thank you," Violetta said, "You'll send word and a picture when the baby's born?"

"Oh, of course we will," Lucy assured her. She had a feeling that this girl, the first one who seemed to interest her cousin at least as much as dragons did, was going to stick around for quite a while. That she shared Charlie's love of dragons probably helped a bit too.

"Okay, if I don't pry her away my wife will just stand here hugging you two all night," Sirius said, "We'll try to catch you before you leave but if not have a safe trip." They all said another round of good-byes before Sirius lead her down the hall and straight into their comfortable bed.

* * *

><p>"So, I hope you don't mind if we're a little late for dinner," Lucy said to Dinah, holding the little Maylene against her shoulder, "My, hopefully, last appointment with Madam Pomfrey is tonight and if it runs long… After all, tomorrow's my due date," she couldn't hide the hint of excitement in her voice.<p>

"I know!" Dinah beamed, reaching over to stroke her daughter's cheek, "And then Maylene here will have a playmate. Not that either of them will be playing much for a couple months yet."

"They can share a cot at nap times, at least," Lucy offered, leaning on the Snapes' green couch, "I hope we're prepared…"

"For?" Dinah asked, leaning back to give Lucy a questioning gaze.

"For One to be… a person. It's different now, you know? I mean, I know it's a baby in there and all, but…"

"It's quite a transition, I'll admit," Dinah smiled, "I mean, this one went from a…" she leaned in and covered the sleeping Maylene's ears before quietly grinning and saying, "stubby mandrake," she released May's ears, "to this sweet little girl we hold dear."

"That's true," Lucy nodded, moving to hand the baby back to her mother, "I should give you back your child and be going though. Wouldn't want to be late after all. I'll see you later? Hopefully on time?"

"Sure," Dinah agreed, "Good luck with Madam Pomfrey."

"Thanks," she said, leaving and closing the door behind her. The more pregnant she got the longer the walk to the hospital wing seemed. She was meeting Sirius there for her appointment. He'd had a finalizing meeting with Minerva. Lucy had a feeling it was more about soothing Sirius's nerves over tutoring than anything… that and impending fatherhood.

"Feeling okay?" he asked, doing his best to put his arm around her middle as they walked in together.

"Fine," she assured him and Poppy as the other woman came out of her office to greet them, "I feel just the same as ever. Enormously pregnant."

"Not for much longer," Poppy grinned, motioning for Lucy to get up on her examination table.

"I hope not," Lucy laughed as the healer started her exam, "Mum was a week and a half late with me but that probably doesn't mean anything."

"Not much," Poppy agreed, "but so far it doesn't look like you're going to be breaking that tradition anytime soon."

"Happy?" Lucy grinned up at Sirius, "It gives you more time to prepare yourself Mr. 'I'll go in if you really want me to but I don't like to see you in pain'."

"I'm thrilled," Sirius chuckled.

"Then I think I might be about to make you delirious," Poppy quipped, "You've nearly reached your due date and you've not had any problems in the last couple months. There wouldn't be any danger in delivering the baby at this point in the pregnancy so… I can't see any reason to continue with your restrictions."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Lucy asked. It had been _months_ and she didn't want to seem like someone who couldn't bear to go without sex for long periods but…

"I'm saying _exactly_ what you think I'm saying," Poppy confirmed, "Now go on. I'll see you same time next week if you haven't had the baby by then."

Lucy hopped off the table and dragged Sirius, eagerly following behind, out of there. "Hurry up," she encouraged.

"We're going to be late, you know," Sirius chuckled, "Severus isn't going to like it."

"I'd already told Dinah the appointment might run late. She'll probably be expecting it."

They were silent after that, until they reached their rooms. With the door closed behind them they began pulling off each other's' clothes, lips fused together and heading for the couch, both of them knowing they'd never make it to their bed.

After having been apart for so long Lucy was, admittedly, a bit nervous. Some things would obviously have to be adjusted due to her pregnancy, but would they be the same together? Would everything be as it had been? She didn't have much time to contemplate it though as Sirius helped her to sit astride him and join their bodies.

She needn't have worried. Their bodies knew exactly what they were doing and it felt… better than she remembered. Everything was perfect and their connection was just as strong as it ever was. She almost felt silly for worrying it might be otherwise.

It didn't take long for them to satiate each other and Sirius was abnormally quick to desire a repeat performance. Though Lucy supposed, under the circumstances it wasn't _that_ abnormal and she was in no less of a hurry than he.

This time they went about it much slower, taking their time and not allowing their bodies to dictate their movements so much. It was every bit as good as the first time had been and they found a comfortable position for the pair of them to sit in. Lucy's head rested on her husband's shoulder and her eyes drifted shut.

"We're late," he murmured.

"I don't care," Lucy said, opening her eyes, "It was worth it. My conscience won't let us totally skip out on them though. So, I think a quick shower and a change of clothes is in order."


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter 75

And so it was they found themselves in fresh robes, hair mostly dried, and attempting looks of contrite apology at the Snapes' door. It wasn't working for Sirius though. "Wipe that look off your face," Lucy ordered.

"What look?" Sirius asked, attempting the apologetic look again.

"The one that says you just did something very dirty with a girl."

"Well, I did," he teased.

"They don't need to know that though," she giggled, "Now, stop it and look sorry for being late before one of them answers." Lucy waited a couple minutes before knocking on their door, wondering if they were so late that Dinah had felt the need to go to bed early or something.

"Hello?" Dinah opened the door, yawning, and then her gaze alighted on them, "Oh! What happened to you two? I know you said you might be late, but… Sirius, you look like that cat that swallowed the canary," she chuckled, the look on Sirius's face apparently so amusing it distracted her from her sentence.

"Nope. Haven't swallowed a thing," he said, still not able to keep that huge grin off his face.

"Sorry!" Lucy apologized, worried she'd hurt her friends' feelings… she had been a bit inconsiderate after all. "It's just… well… if I tell you I'll probably scandalize poor Severus."

"Oh?" Dinah batted her eyelashes conspiratorially, holding the door open further, "Well ,come in. We just finished putting Maylene down for the night and Severus was about to start some Potions work but we can order up some more food and do dessert together. Unless you two have eaten already… I assume not since you came down here…"

"Um, no, we haven't eaten. I'm so sorry. I should have sent a note around or something," Lucy apologized, "but you have no idea."

"It's all right, don't be upset," Dinah patted her arm, leading them into the kitchen where Severus was just setting up a cauldron at the table to brew something.

He looked up at them and raised an eyebrow, "Decided to grace us with your presence after all, then?"

"I'd have been quite happy to stay where we were," Sirius returned.

"We, uh, just got some good news from Poppy, that's all," Lucy said, her face flaming, "We were just… celebrating and lost track of time."

Dinah giggled, rushing over to hug Lucy, "I think I've put two and two together and know what you mean by that!" she admitted, jumping up and down a little, "Am I right? Am I?"

"Yeah," Lucy grinned, unable to keep it to herself any longer, "Poppy said since my due date's tomorrow it's not going to matter if I happen to deliver early. Though she also said she saw no signs of that happening yet, but…"

"But that's just great, I'm so happy for you two! I mean, it has nothing to do with me except that I know it'll make you two happy and having my friends be happy means a lot to me!" Dinah gushed.

"Have you been drinking without my knowledge or is this sappiness another postpartum affliction that I was unaware of?" Severus drawled.

Dinah sighed, "Don't mind him. He's cranky because… well, you two being late and all…" she blushed.

"We've thrown off his feeding schedule?" Sirius asked, grunting when Lucy elbowed him in the stomach.

"Be nice. We _were_ rude, but… well…"

"Oh, now, let's not regress…" Dinah said worriedly, looking from Sirius to the now-scowling Severus and gesturing with her hands to try and calm them, "It's over and done. The point is that they're here now."

"He was just joking… I think," Lucy frowned.

"Of course I was," Sirius confirmed with a smirk, "Severus is just sensitive. _I_ can do things he can't now."

Severus snorted, "Not for much longer. And still, it would take you two a good deal of time to catch up with us at this point."

Dinah just sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Boys," Lucy sighed along with her friend, "Always in competition with each other. I hope we didn't inconvenience you too much. We can always go back to our rooms. You do look a bit tired, Dinah. I don't want to wear you out."

"It's up to you," Dinah smiled, "You're welcome to stay. You _should_ eat, after all. But maybe you'd rather go back home…" she shrugged.

"I _am_ hungry," Lucy admitted, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks, "I just don't want to impose…"

"You're not imposing. Sit!" Dinah ordered, grinning and pulling a chair back.

Lucy sat down in the chair with a laugh, "So, authoritative. Is that a parental thing, a professor thing, or…?"

"It's just my strategy for pushing through the uncertain Lucy," she smiled.

Sirius chuckled and took a seat beside his wife, "I'm glad someone's got a strategy."

It might have been a little late but the four of them finally sat down to dinner. The two men got friendlier towards each other as full stomachs and happy wives overcame the minor tension they'd had between them. Lucy was glad to be able to have this last meal with just her, her husband, and their two friends. After all, tomorrow they'd be a family.

* * *

><p>Lucy sighed and put one hand on her lower back, gently rubbing the sore muscles. Her other hand rested on her large belly as she walked around the classroom, watching the students frantically write the essay portion of their tests.<p>

She took slow, steady breaths and started rubbing her stomach as she felt it tighten, not for the first time that day. It hadn't been happening regularly this morning but as the day wore on the pains were getting more and more regular. She'd been determined to work as long as she could and she was already a couple days overdue but she had the distinct impression that this Tuesday was going to be the last one she worked for a while.

Thankfully, she was halfway through the last class of the day. "Ginny?" she said to her cousin.

The girl looked up with an expectant, anxious expression, "Yes?"

Lucy smiled, "I'm not feeling all that well. Do you think you could finish out the rest of the class for me?"

"Of course!"

"Don't get too excited. They're just finishing up the exam then they're free to go." She slowly waddled out of the classroom, ignoring the stares from her second years and Ginny. Standing in the hall she wondered which way to go first? Did she go get Sirius or go straight to the hospital wing?

What was she thinking? Clearly going and getting her husband, the father of her child, was the first thing she should do. If she was lucky he should still be in their rooms.

It took her twice as long to get to her rooms as it had before she'd been pregnant. When she opened the door her husband jumped. "All the kids get done early?" he asked.

She shook her head, "No, Ginny's finishing up with them. I think we need to go see Madam Pomfrey."

"Now?" He looked slightly panicked and excited.

She nodded, "Now."

* * *

><p>"What do you mean she's not ready?" Sirius asked, seemingly shocked that this was going to take a while. Lucy didn't know why. He <em>did<em> know about the birds and the bees after all. "All this time we were trying to keep the baby _in_ and now it's not ready to come out?"

"It takes time," Poppy said, patiently, "She's been having contractions all day but it doesn't look like Lucy's going to be blessed with Dinah's quick labor."

"I want to walk," Lucy said, sitting in the bed that Poppy had directed them to.

"No, I think you should stay in bed," Sirius frowned, "What if you're walking and the baby comes?"

Poppy raised a Severus-like eyebrow at him, "They don't usually just fall out, dear. If she wants to walk, walk with her. There's no reason she can't do what she wants right now."

They began a slow walk around the large, open room. Lucy wondered if it would be worth it for them to take the time to invest in a separate room for staff and their families. Surprisingly there were no students in hospital at the moment, but she didn't relish the thought of attempting to go through labor and delivery with a student two beds down.

Every so often they would have to stop their journey so Lucy could breathe through a contraction.

"Are you sure you don't want a pain potion or anything?" Sirius would asked, sounding slightly horrified.

"I'm fine. It's not that bad," she assured him, even though both he and Poppy looked skeptical.

She _was_ in pain, but it wasn't anything so bad that she felt the need to take something for it. After a while though Lucy grew tired and Sirius walked her back over to the bed and helped her lay down. She hadn't had any dinner and so she was hungry but Poppy had already informed her that she wasn't allowed any food. Ice chips if she wanted those, but no food. It didn't matter though, as Lucy fell into a light doze, thankful for the rest she could get between Poppy's checks on her progress.

Before she knew it, it was time to push. Lucy was a little surprised she'd gotten all that way without a pain potion. She hadn't been absolutely for or against using them, but while her contractions had been painful they hadn't been unbearable.

"Would you like to see the head?" Poppy asked Sirius, after a little bit of pushing on Lucy's part.

"You can see it?" he asked, moving down to join Madam Pomfrey.

"Of course I can see it. You're a smart boy, use your brains," Poppy scolded, pointing out the appropriate area.

"Oh, um, that's… that's a head," Sirius muttered, his face growing awfully pale, "There's, uh, a lot of… fluid…"

"Yes, babies… Would you _sit down_?" Poppy ordered, waving her wand and bringing a chair up behind his knees.

Between pushes Lucy took the opportunity to giggle a little bit. Who would have thought that Sirius Black would nearly pass out over the birth of his child?

A few moments later, a insistent squalling made itself known.

Poppy disappeared with the baby very briefly and brought her blanket-wrapped bundle over to Sirius. "Would you like to hold your son?" she asked, not giving the still slightly pale man an option as she put the infant into his arms.

"Son?" he asked, looking stunned at the revelation, "It's a boy?"

"Generally you don't find a lot of female sons," Poppy chuckled, turning back to Lucy to finish up with her.

Sirius looked a lot more natural with a baby in his arms than Lucy would have thought possible given his previous terror of them. "Look," he murmured, coming up to the head of the bed, "It's Owen."

"Owen," Lucy sighed, reaching out to put a hand on the little bundle. The tiny baby had calmed considerably in his father's arms. "He looks like you."

"I think he looks like you," Sirius countered, placing the newborn in her arms.

"Oh," Lucy's voice shook and Sirius reached over to wipe away a tear. "He's real and he's heavy and he's a person."

* * *

><p>It was at 4:17 in the morning on March 15th when Owen had finally arrived. Lucy was exhausted but she continued to hold her child, smiling down at him and occasionally glancing over at the bed where Sirius slept. She didn't mind that he'd fallen asleep. Her body was tired but her mind was wide awake, taking in her son's first moments of life. Her son, who was sleeping as peacefully as his father.<p>

* * *

><p>About an hour before breakfast was served it was Sirius who was awake and Lucy who was sleeping. He was glad that they seemed to be the only people in the ward. It was more peaceful and definitely more private that way. His son was currently happily fed, changed, and burped, which meant he was sleeping again.<p>

At the other end of the hospital ward, one of the large doors opened and a blonde head peeked around it. "Sirius? Can we come in?"

He turned to respond to Dinah, "Yes, yes. Come in."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's great. Lucy's sleeping."

"If she's sleeping, we can return another time," Severus said and Dinah nodded in agreement.

"No, no. It's fine. She's been waking up at every little sound the baby makes anyway."

The other couple came in, walking quietly and settling themselves on the bed Sirius had previously been sleeping on. Dinah was holding three-week-old Maylene, wrapped up in a blanket.

Lucy confirmed Sirius's words when she shifted around and murmured, "Sirius?"

He gently touched her forehead, "I'm right here. The baby's still asleep, but you've got some visitors."

She opened one eyelid as if opening both would have been too much effort, "Dinah!" she said, both eyes opening and looking fully awake now as she pushed her way into a sitting position in the bed.

Dinah giggled, "Hi. How are you doing?"

"Good. Tired, sore, but good. Great."

"The baby is healthy? Is it a boy or a girl?" Dinah looked positively desperate to hear the news, and Severus was smiling at her with affectionate amusement.

"Oh! Sirius," she said pointing at the bassinet sitting at her feet on the opposite side from Dinah and Severus. He handed her the baby, wrapped up in a blanket to protect him from the chilly air. She waved her friend closer so that she could get a better look at the baby, "He's perfect and he's a he. His name's Owen Regulus." She pushed back the little hat Madam Pomfrey had placed on Owen's head so Dinah and Severus could get a glimpse of his black hair, "He's obviously a Black. They even have the same eyes. Shape I mean, not color."

Sirius sat next to her on the bed, "I think he looks like you."

"Oh, no. He definitely looks like you and your brother. What do you three think?" Lucy asked.

"I can see both of you in him, actually. Just like little Maylene here," Dinah smiled, and moved to draw the blanket from Maylene's face so both babies were revealed.

Sirius moved to look at Maylene, "Looks like you got your wish, Severus. She's got Dinah's nose."

"Gosh, she's gotten so big already," Lucy said, "I mean look at how much bigger Maylene is than Owen and it hasn't been quite a month yet."

"I know. It happens _so_ fast," Dinah said with a small, wistful smile, before her gaze turned a tad sneaky, "By the way," she added, lifting her head to wink at Sirius, "Did I see you _hold_ this adorable little bundle of joy a few moments ago?" she asked, placing a light finger on Owen's tiny nose.

"Maybe," he admitted, feeling an embarrassing blush rise up his cheeks. He couldn't deny that he was already enamored with holding his son. "It's different when it's yours. I made that. On the –"

"Even I don't think they need to know where," Lucy interrupted, "It probably helped that he didn't have much of a choice. Poppy kind of thrust Owen into his arms."

"It was either grab him or let him fall to the floor," Sirius elaborated.

"Then I'm glad you grabbed him," Dinah smiled, her gaze softening, "Do you think then one of these days you might be able to hold our little girl, too?"

"It's a definite possibility," he said. Sirius figured he'd probably better buck up and do it at some point since their families were so close. It was likely the children would be too.

"I'm glad," she smiled, and even his old rival looked somewhat pleasant next to his wife; "You have held at least one other baby," Dinah added, "Tonks's little girl. Right, Lucy?"

"Anne, yes," Lucy giggled, "We _are_ her godparents and she's named after me. Like Poppy Tonks' didn't give him a choice and he looked very uncomfortable the whole time."

"We don't see them that often so I don't have to worry about it much," Sirius delayed.

"We see them even less now that Tonks is back at work full-time. When do you plan on going back to teaching?" Lucy asked Dinah, curious.

"Maybe in April," Dinah said, smoothing Maylene's silky black hair. "I have to run it by Minerva again around that time and see how we both feel. I might just teach some of the classes - the ones when Severus is free to watch her."

"I'm sure we could take her if you needed. That's if you're comfortable with it," Lucy offered.

"I think that would be fine," Severus said, "But we'll have to look at it more closely when the time approaches."

Madam Pomfrey came in then, looking like she hadn't been up all night. When she saw Lucy was awake she put her hands on her hips and clucked her tongue, "Didn't I tell you, you should be sleeping when the baby's sleeping? You probably won't get much sleep today with all the visitors coming and going."

Lucy shrugged, looking only slightly embarrassed, "I was sleeping, but as you can see I had visitors. Dinah and I haven't been visiting as much lately. She's been busy with Maylene and it was a real effort for me to get myself all the way to their rooms."

"Yes, well, don't force yourself to stay awake if you're tired. If you need to sleep, sleep. If you need anything I'll be in my office."

Sirius leaned down and kissed Lucy's forehead, "Breakfast is nearly over. I should be going. Unless you want me to stay, that is. I'm sure Minnie wouldn't mind given the circumstances."

Lucy laughed, "If you keep calling her Minnie she might. Go ahead and go. You two already had plans made and it's not like you'll be gone all day. Besides, maybe I can persuade Dinah to stay with me."

"Plans?" Severus asked, moving the blanket back over Maylene's head as if subconsciously concerned for his baby's exposure to the cold. He shot Sirius a smirk. "You and the Headmistress don't have a date planned, then, I assume?"

"No," Sirius said, almost offended by the remark, though by now he knew it was more in jest, "We happen to be working."

Lucy shifted Owen from one arm to the other, "He's gotten a job. Rather inconveniently timed but I think he'll enjoy himself. He's helping Minerva tutor some students in Transfiguration. _Just_ Transfiguration." There had been a small discussion about offering animagus lessons at Hogwarts for older students, with Sirius teaching but Lucy had put her foot down at that. He still hadn't registered and she certainly didn't want him to be responsible if something went wrong for one of the students.

"That's nice," Dinah smiled at Sirius. "Do you think that you'll eventually take on the class? Now that Minerva is headmistress and all."

Sirius shrugged, "Maybe, eventually. Right now I think it's best to just be doing the tutor thing. I don't see myself as a professor and it's easier to make my schedule fit with Lu's when she decides to go back to teaching."

Dinah nodded, "You may find you really like it. And you seem like a good choice for the Transfiguration thing. It's similar to the animagus spell, right?"

"Vaguely," Severus said. "The two are connected somewhat but there are differences in practice. You have the Transfiguration experience then, I take it?" he asked Sirius.

Sirius smirked, "Minerva seems to think so. Of course, transforming into an animagus is really just a more complicated form of transfiguring oneself into an animal. The two magics aren't as different as you might think. Well, I should be going now. Minnie hates it when people are late. I remember getting detention for that a few times," he leaned down again to kiss his wife and son, "Send for me if you need anything?"

"Yes, of course," she turned to Dinah, "You feel like sticking around and entertaining me?"

Dinah laughed; "I think that May and I can stay. It does sometimes get boring down there all by myself when Severus is teaching. If you let me hold the baby, that is."

Lucy grinned, "You can hold him as much as you want." She handed Owen to his father, "Here can you put him back in the bassinet before you go? And move it up closer to my head please?"

"Yes, dear," Sirius said, doing what she asked before leaving with Severus.


	76. Chapter 76

Chapter 76

"Now," Lucy said, turning to Dinah after the doors closed behind their husbands, "Do you want to see something I've been working on?"

"Sure," Dinah agreed, looking curious. "You've been working on something?"

"Yep," Lucy said, leaning over and reaching under the bed, "just for the last couple weeks. I had to figure out how I wanted it to look and also keep Sirius from finding out about it." She reached down to the bottom of the bag they'd brought with them to the hospital wing. "I'm thinking of giving it to him for his birthday or Christmas. I hope he'll like it or at least like it better than the one he has." She pulled out a large piece of fabric with Sirius's face and name connected to hers. There were branches connecting them to Ted, Andromeda, Tonks, Remus, Teddy, and Anne. One more branch was working its way down from Lucy and Sirius's connected branch to a place that would soon hold Owen's name and face.

"Aww, that's nice," Dinah extended a finger and traced the branch connecting Lucy and Sirius, then followed it down to the blank space. "Owen will go here then, I presume?"

Lucy smiled, glancing at her newborn son, "Yes, he will. I'm hoping we can put this up in the room were the Black family tree is now. Cover up the old one but still have access to it somehow. It just… seems wrong to hide the past completely."

"I agree. But I think putting it on top is a reasonable compromise," Dinah smiled.

"Thanks. I care more about it than Sirius does, plus I spent all that time restoring the bloody thing. Anyway," she said, stuffing the cloth back in her bag, "how have things been?"

"Very good for the most part. May's still quiet and sleeps through the night at least most nights. I hope you end up just as lucky," she smiled. "Want to switch babies now?"

"Sure," Lucy said, taking Owen out of the bassinet and handing him to Dinah, "Are you positive though? Yours is already proven to be a good one. Mine's still under inspection. I might decide to keep yours."

"Sorry, no trades allowed," Dinah grinned, smiling down at Owen. "Aw, but he is adorable. Tell you what, I'll just take both of them."

"I don't think so," Lucy said, taking May from her mother and placing the sleeping baby in the bassinet, "I didn't go through everything I have to end up with no baby."

Dinah laughed. "All right, point taken. So, what do you think it's going to be like from now on? I've still got students coming down to the dungeons asking to see the baby. I think Hogwarts will be a quite different place now that we're both raising children here."

Lucy shook her head, "I don't know. It'll be interesting to say the least," she covered her mouth to yawn, "Sorry."

"Are you tired? I can take May and go if you want to sleep," Dinah said. "I know how exhausting the first few days can be. We can always talk more later."

"No, really, stay," she said, stifling another yawn, "I don't want to sleep all day and then be up all night. I was already up all night last night."

Dinah laughed. "If I stay you must promise you won't fall asleep on me."

"I won't. I promise," Lucy said, snuggling deeper into the bed. "Are you going to be taking Maylene to any of your classes with you?"

"As my own personal, indulgent show-and-tell?" Dinah seemed to consider this for a moment, and smiled. "Not right away. I don't know about later. Maybe. And definitely when she's older."

"Mmm. This one's coming with me. At least we'll see how it goes for the first couple days and take it from there…" Lucy's eyes shut for a few moments before she opened them wide. "Your parents! I should send them a note. Or maybe you should."

Dinah smiled, appearing to consider for a moment before deciding, "I think you should. They'd love to hear from you. Or we could call them on my mobile right now, if you'd like."

"Mmm," Lucy sighed, her sleepiness coming back, "That sounds nice…"

"You want to be awake to talk to them, though," she teased, taking out her interesting Muggle device and waving her wand at it, reciting, "_Fulmen praecantatio_," to get it to turn on.

"Okay," Lucy mumbled, "How're they gonna fit in there?" she asked, nodding towards the mobile… mayble… thing…

Dinah paused in her poking her finger at the thing and making it beep to burst into giggles, "Oh, Lucy, you _are_ tired, aren't you? Just stay awake for a few more moments, all right? Your little boy here wants you to brag about his birth," she murmured, shifting Owen in her arms a little as she lifted the strange device to her ear. "Hi Mum!" Dinah began brightly, but in Lucy's sleepiness she missed most of the rest of the conversation until Dinah startled her eyes open again with an exclamation of, "Oh!"

"Huh? What? What's happened?" Lucy asked, struggling to get up and search for her wand. If they were being attacked she'd definitely need her wand.

"Shh, relax," Dinah giggled again, putting a hand on her arm, "Don't panic the children. Everything's fine. Yeah, hang on Mum, I'll ask," she said into the phone, before putting her hand over part of it and saying to Lucy, "You three have been invited to spend Easter with us. They know you probably have your own family to visit, but thought maybe you'd like to come for a little bit, or even for a visit on Saturday if Sunday is too busy for you."

"Oh," Lucy gasped, starting to cry in her sleep deprived state, "I… I'd have to check with Sirius and see what Aunt Molly's plans are but I'd _love_ to come for a couple days if we can."

"I'll tell them," Dinah said with a kind smile, handing Lucy a handkerchief and turning to her phone to give her parents the news, "They say to tell you congratulations and they'll call back to talk to you in person when you're a bit more awake. They're really excited to have you over and to meet Owen."

"He's excited too," Lucy sniffled, reaching a lazy hand out to rest it on her son. Why was she trying to stay awake again? She was _so_ tired and Owen would likely be up again soon to feed. Maybe Dinah would stay for a bit even if Lucy was sleeping… "Sorry," she mumbled, her lids closing, "I do want to stay awake. I'm just… Four-thirty in the morning… Stay? He'll need a feed soon and I… might need help…"

"Okay," Dinah agreed, "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on the children for you. You go ahead and get some rest."

* * *

><p>"How did you ever manage?" Lucy asked less than an hour later. Dinah had just woken her, both children making their desire for sustenance known.<p>

"How did I manage what?" Dinah asked, handing Owen over to Lucy so she could lift Maylene out of the bassinet.

"Waking up when it was time for feeding," she said, taking Owen and opening her robes… another reason to be grateful for the emptiness of the hospital, "staying awake through a feed, not dropping the baby from sheer exhaustion. And while we're at it how come no one ever said it'd likely hurt the first few times I did this," she said, nodding down towards where her son was sucking away at her breast, "or that I'd be too tired to care that I need to shower?"

"Um," Dinah giggled, "Well, that's certainly a lot of questions. I think you manage it because you really just have to. Maylene's been good at night so far, which helps… and don't worry, you just gave birth. You have the right to whine a little and laze about. At least for a couple days."

"Oh… good… thanks," Lucy said, yawning. "So, can I tell you something that I'm not sure Sirius would want me to tell you?"

"Um, well…" Dinah frowned, hesitating, "I suppose if it's important, then of course, I'll listen. Nothing too bad I hope."

"No, not bad at all. I find it more amusing than anything now, though I'm sure Sirius would be mortified. He…" she paused to giggle and shift Owen to her other breast, "He nearly fainted."

Both Dinah's eyebrows went up and a little amused expression formed on her face, "You don't mean… during the birth, do you?" she asked, biting her lip when she looked about to giggle.

"Mmmhmm," Lucy nodded, "Madam Pomfrey asked if he wanted to see the head and he went down there… she had to tell him to sit down before he fell down."

Dinah covered her mouth as she burst into a fit of giggles, "Oh my, Lucy, that's… I'm sorry, I really shouldn't laugh, but… oh, gosh, we probably shouldn't tell that to Severus, should we? Although I must confess I am _so_ tempted."

"Well, I don't know," Lucy giggled, "_I_ find it amusing and Sirius could stand some good natured ribbing about it. I doubt he'd appreciate it though."

"Well, how about we… see if it comes up?" Dinah teased, batting her eyelashes and clearly implying that they'd subtly make it come up themselves.

Still giggling, Lucy nodded, sitting Owen up to burp him, "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

><p>"First night home with the baby," Sirius commented two days later, kissing his wife on the shoulder. When he'd first come in Lucy had just been laying Owen down in his cot. Now the pair of them stood there watching the tiny infant sleep. "What is it?" he asked when he saw a tear slide down her cheek.<p>

"Just thinking… well, remembering," she confessed, "I don't want to leave him. I know it's st… silly, but Mum left me. I know she didn't mean to and didn't want to but… she still left and I…" she closed her eyes and took a breath, starting over, "I know if something happens to me he'll have you, and the Weasleys, and the Lupins, and Dinah, and Severus, and little Maylene… but I'm his mum. Nothing can replace that and I'm just… afraid."

Sirius wrapped his arms around her, gently pressing her head to rest on his shoulder. He didn't have to look at her and she didn't have to make a sound for him to know she was crying. There was a certainty inside him that said part of this was still just hormones from being pregnant. The rest of this, he knew, was genuine concern that something might happen to her and she'd leave Owen without a mother. "Shh," he murmured, "Nothing's going to happen to you. I won't let it."

"You can't promise that. We can take all the precautions in the world and it might not matter. I just… if something does happen I don't want him to feel abandoned like I felt abandoned. I know Mum died, she didn't leave me on purpose but sometimes, especially when I was younger it felt like it. She was gone and… Aunt Molly and the rest were there for a little while but they couldn't stay forever or come visit often. There wasn't anyone there to remind me that she hadn't _wanted_ to go, that Mum hadn't had a choice. I _do_ want you to promise that if something does happen… _someone_ will be there to make sure that he knows he wasn't abandoned, he wasn't left or forgotten about, that he was loved and cared for. That he was wanted."

"He'll know… he knows," Sirius said in hushed tones, careful not to wake the baby.

"Thanks. I feel better," she smiled, reaching up to kiss him.

"Ready for bed now?" he asked, knowing she had to be exhausted.

"Yes," Lucy nodded, but when they went to go her hand reached out and grabbed the cot's railing. She didn't move. "You're going to think I'm crazy but I can't leave."

"I thought we had everything worked out, that you felt better?"

"We did. I do. It's just… I know we talked about this and decided it would be best for Owen to have his own room right from the start but… I can't leave him. He'll be too far away. What if he cries and I don't hear him? Since he's been born he hasn't been more than three feet from me. I can't leave."

"Do you want me to go get the bassinet? Then we can put him near the bed with a protective barrier so the cats can't get to him," Sirius offered, trying not to insinuate that his wife was acting mental.

"Yes, please," she grinned, looking so pleased with this that he couldn't possibly tell her he'd only been kidding. Within a few short minutes their whole little family was settled in the main bedroom and fast asleep.


	77. Chapter 77

Chapter 77

"Severus," Sirius called from his new, temporary office in the dungeons as the other man walked by, probably on the way back from teaching a class.

"_Black_?" Severus demanded, stopping in his tracks and giving him a surprised look, "That is, Sirius… may I ask what you are doing in this space?" he looked around at the minimally-furnished area which had been an empty room as recently as yesterday.

"It seems I require an office to tutor Transfiguration. Minnie said so," he smirked, straightening some papers on his desk.

"Then she is really going through with this…?" Severus muttered, looking around again, "To the point of an office? In _my_ dungeons? Does Minerva _really_ think that…?" he trailed, stopping himself and turning to grimace at Sirius, "I apologize," he forced out, "But I must ask: Did you stop me simply so that you could gloat or is there another reason you wish to speak with me?"

"A little bit of both and the location is temporary. She wants to move me to the main floor eventually. Seems a little much for a temporary position but," Sirius shrugged, "Anyway… Does Dinah have issues leaving May? Lucy's decided she can't leave Owen in a room by himself."

"Well…" Severus frowned, "She likes to keep Maylene in our room at night if that's what you mean. But aside from that, she is content to be out of sight of the child for short periods of time. So long as she knows she is safe."

"Owen was supposed to go right into his own room. That's what we talked about but she's afraid she won't hear him cry in there. I get that, but she doesn't like leaving him alone for naps either. She will if I'm with him or Ginny or Hermione but… It's like she's afraid he's going to disappear or something. I wonder if Dinah could help."

"I will speak with her," Severus offered.

"Thanks. She can go up whenever she wants or we could host dinner or something. Lucy's just… to paraphrase what she said; she's afraid she'll leave Owen like her mum left her."

"I see," Severus frowned, "Then she must simply decide not to do so. That would be my suggestion to her, but I am certain it would be better for her to speak to Dinah."

"Probably," Sirius grinned, "Women have some sort of secret code that only they can understand and interpret."

"Don't I know it," Severus sighed, "Is that all, then? It may be best to let them talk alone, perhaps over tea. I will suggest Dinah go up this afternoon."

"That's all… unless you want to admire _my_ office located in _your_ dungeons," he chuckled.

"Hm," Severus snorted, "I think not." And with that, he spun around and left, his bat-like robes billowing behind him.

* * *

><p>Lucy sighed, closing her eyes where she laid on the couch in the living room. Being a new mother was exhausting. Owen only slept for two or three hours at a time and was up screaming for food when he wasn't sleeping. At least it seemed that way most times. But right now he was sleeping on her chest though, having been fed and burped.<p>

The peace wasn't meant to last and Lucy wasn't going to get her nap when she was startled by someone knocking at her door. "Come in," she called as loud as she dared. She might not be allowed to nap but she certainly wasn't going to wake up her son if she could help it.

The door creaked softly open and Dinah poked her head in, Maylene wrapped in a bundle in her arms, "I thought we might share in some motherly bonding over tea, if you're up for it," she smiled.

"Oh," Lucy groaned, shifting Owen carefully and sitting up, "All right. Come in all the way. Sorry," she apologized on a yawn. "I'm just so tired. He only sleeps a couple hours at a time…"

"Mm. Maylene can usually go for five or six. It's so nice," Dinah sighed, settling down on the chair across from her and summoning some tea and biscuits up from the kitchens to appear on the coffee table; "But I don't think that's normal."

"She's older too so that probably helps," Lucy said, a little jealous that her friend was getting more sleep than she was. "Would you like to put Maylene down? I can bring out the bassinet," she offered, rising and taking Owen to the little cradle they'd placed next to the couch.

"All right. I could take her into the nursery, too," Dinah said cautiously, "Severus tells me that… well, he heard from Sirius that you haven't been using the place so much…"

"Oh?" she asked, wondering why her friend seemed so nervous, "I use it all the time. That's usually where we nap. Owen takes the cot, I take the chair. It's very comfortable."

"Oh, I see…" Dinah frowned, standing and adjusting May's blankets, "That's not really what I meant, though." She sighed, "Oh, I'll just out with it. Sirius was concerned, because it's so hard for you not to be in the same room with Owen. To leave him by himself, I mean. Even for a short time?" Now the reason for her caution was clearer.

Lucy opened and closed her mouth a couple times, trying to figure out how to respond to that. Tears filled her eyes and she worried that Dinah would think it was her fault. "Sorry," she apologized, "It's not you. You didn't… If… if you want to put Maylene in the nursery that's okay. Wherever you're comfortable…"

"I hope I haven't upset you," Dinah murmured, "I thought maybe we could put them in there together. They'd have each other and it might be a good start, but I don't intend to force you to do anything you're not ready for and maybe it's a bit too soon."

"You haven't. Honest. I cry at everything anymore. I think it's a combination of hormones and sleep deprivation," she leaned back over to take Owen out of the cradle, "We can put them both in the nursery."

"All right, if you're sure," Dinah smiled, leading them both into the nursery and leaning over, kissing the top of Maylene's head and murmuring a 'goodnight' to her before gently placing her into the cot and stepping back to allow Lucy to do the same at her own pace.

She stood there a few moments with her eyes closed, feeling his warm, little body snuggled against hers. "Shhh, don't wake up," she murmured, when he grunted. Slowly and with a sense of impending doom, Lucy laid Owen down next to his 'cousin'. "We leave the door open," she said, taking a couple steps back.

"Of course," Dinah assured, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Are you ready to go now? They're safe. They've got each other. We'll only be in the next room."

"But… what if they cry and we don't hear them? They're so little… It sounds stupid, I know. I know because when I said something similar the first night we brought One home Sirius gave me that 'You're acting mental but I love you anyway look'," Lucy sniffled.

"Well… it's a bit of a postpartum thing, and men don't always understand that," Dinah told her, "It's very common to feel like this after giving birth. It happens to a lot of women; certainly not just you."

"Are you sure?" Lucy laughed through her tears, taking a few more steps away from her son, "Because I'm thinking things like if something happens to me… will he know I cared?"

"Oh, Lucy, nothing is going to happen to you," Dinah murmured, "You're fine, aren't you? There are no more wars, you're healthy, you've got Sirius to protect you… you certainly have the will to live. I know your Mum died, but… those circumstances were so different. And I think it's obvious to everyone how much you care. Even the little ones can tell they're loved at this age, I'm sure of it."

Lucy sighed, leaning on her friend as they walked the rest of the way out into the living room, leaving the nursery door wide open. "It's stupid to be this messed up about something that happened when you were eight, isn't it? Other people lost their families and they seem to be okay. Heck, Harry lost _both_ of his parents and he seems reasonably well-adjusted."

"Everybody reacts to things differently," Dinah assured her as they settled onto the sofa and she reached for a biscuit, "Harry had… well, he did live with those awful Dursleys but you lived with Henley… and then there was the whole Sirius's death issue…"

"I'm just a basket full of wonderful, aren't I?" Lucy laughed, grabbing a hanky, "O needs me and… well… Henley's been too quiet lately and I haven't been reading the papers but I wouldn't be surprised if Rita had written something up about the Black family line continuing with the birth of a little prince or some other sort of drivel."

"I haven't seen anything yet, and I think between the two of us Severus and I have read all of the _Daily_ and _Evening Prophets_ since his birth. That doesn't mean it won't happen in the future, but…" she shrugged.

Lucy nodded, taking a biscuit for herself and pouring some tea, "Well, no one outside Hogwarts really knows yet, except for your parents and the Weasley clan." Harry and the Lupins were honorary Weasleys. After taking a sip of the tea she sighed again, "Thanks. For coming over and…" she nodded towards the open nursery door, "I don't know why Sirius couldn't just say something to me himself but…"

"I think men are a bit afraid of us in the couple of weeks after pregnancy, to be honest," Dinah teased, "And you're welcome."

"I think you're right," she agreed before stiffening up, "Was that the babies? Did they cry? Do you think they're all right?"

Dinah chuckled, "I think that was my spoon brushing against the saucer. But if you want to go look in on them, I won't tell you no," she said, lifting up her teacup.

Lucy was torn with indecision. On the one hand she desperately wanted to go make sure her baby, and May, were still perfect. On the other, she knew if she set one foot back into that nursery she likely wouldn't be leaving under her own free will. "No," she shook her head, "I think I should stay. You don't think this means I'm going to be one of those obnoxious, over-protective mothers, do you?"

"Oh, I think it's too early to label you for life," Dinah chuckled, "Besides, I'm certainly not perfect. I mean, you and Sirius intended for Owen to sleep in his nursery at night from the beginning, right? There is no _way_ I am ever going to let my little girl sleep in a different room for at least another two months, and I felt that way right from the start. I'm quite stubborn about it, actually."

"Really?" Lucy asked. Though they'd discussed how they wanted to parent some, she and Dinah hadn't delved too deep into that topic. "We did intend to put him in the nursery right from the start. Figured it'd be easier on all of us than trying to transition him to his own room eventually."

"Ahh," Dinah nodded, "I can see that. But I just don't want her that far away at night, you know? Not right away. I'm fine for naps during the day, but I think a transition won't be too hard if she's only three months. And besides, I like having her near."

"Oh, I understand," Lucy giggled, "I like having both my boys near. Did Severus tell you Minerva gave Sirius an office? In the dungeons?"

"Oh, yes," Dinah giggled, covering her mouth, "He was quite indignant about the whole thing, actually. It was rather adorable."

"I think she put him there on purpose. Give him a dungeon office and he'll think he's not important enough to get an office on the main floor. He'll think, since he's just temporary, that he doesn't rate having a nicer office on one of the upper floors. Not that having an office in the dungeon is bad," she hastened to add, "It's just… well… if you didn't _want_ to be down there it'd seem like a dark, dreary, damp place to make a living."

"Oh, yes. It's not a place I would have chosen a year and a half ago, certainly, but it has charms that grow on you. And Severus _wants_ to be down there; that's why he stays. Slughorn certainly didn't want it when he came back to teach Potions. It worked out well for all involved."

"Yes, it did," Lucy nodded, "Oh! I talked to Sirius and Molly and we decided that since George and Angelina are getting married right before Easter we can come to your parents' whenever. I don't know, the wedding _and_ Easter with the entire Weasley clan might be a bit much for me and One. That's a lot of people and commotion."

"That would be lovely!" Dinah beamed, "You can come whenever you like; I'm sure Mum and Dad will be so happy to have you both with us."

"I'm glad and they don't have to do anything special. I mean, not that they were necessarily planning to but if they were they really shouldn't feel like they have to do anything," Lucy took a breath, having rushed out most of her words.

Dinah giggled, "Well, I hope it's all right if they make extra food so you and Sirius can eat with us. And I'm sure they'll have a little something for Owen. Plus, we have a bit of a surprise for Sirius," she said with a secret little grin, "Severus, May, and I, that is."

"Oh?" Lucy asked, her curiosity piqued, "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing major," Dinah giggled, "Just a little present. You'll see when he gets it; I'm not going to spoil the surprise."

"But it's not _my_ surprise," Lucy cajoled, trying to get the information out of her friend.

"Oh, now, you're being so nosy I'm even _less_ likely to tell you for fear you'll spoil it," Dinah teased.

Lucy stuck out her bottom lip, "But I'm all, you know, hormonal."

"That's true," Dinah grinned, "Still not telling, though."

"Fine," she pouted, childishly sticking out her tongue, "Give this poor, hormonal, crazy, sleep-deprived, emotionally damaged, new mother nothing to look forward to." Sure she was being dramatic but Lucy didn't particularly care. Her curiosity had taken over.

"Isn't a nice surprise something to look forward to?" Dinah returned.

"Yes," she relented with a sigh, "I suppose I can wait. It'll be hard, but I can do it. So… have you seen Sirius's new office? He doesn't think he needs one. Still has no clue he's being eased into accepting that Transfiguration job."

"Not yet," she admitted, "Severus didn't volunteer its exact location and I didn't think to ask. His indignance was just too amusing. Plus I was thinking about what I should say when I came to see you."

"Oh… it's just… we've never been apart, you know? I keep him safe."

"I know," she smiled, "But the boys gave me a big job to do, I had to think about how best to accomplish it."

"Would that be your Ravenclaw coming out?" she teased, taking a sip of her tea, "The office is three doors down from Severus's by the way. I haven't seen it but I don't think I'm ready to get bombarded with students every time I leave my rooms yet."

"Mm, they do love babies," Dinah agreed, grabbing another biscuit

"Yes, they do. Agrona and Jania have been by but I can handle two, not two-hundred. Dinah," she yawned, "would you mind terribly if I went and laid down? And would you mind staying while I did? I'd just feel better if there was someone here awake. You're welcome to anything you want or need, of course."

"Sure. The babies can stay asleep for now, then?"

"Yeah," Lucy nodded, setting the tea aside and standing up, "One might wake up with a wet nappy but I can take care of that. Boys like to pee _everywhere_. Maybe I should just change him now if he's wet. I'd _really_ hate to wake him up though…"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Dinah assured, waving her off, "I'm sure I can handle a wet nappy. After all, I might have a boy of my own someday that I should practice for."

Lucy giggled, "Then be prepared to be peed on."

"I will take precautions, don't worry. That's one of the things magic is useful for."

"That it is true," she grinned, "Okay, thanks for staying and for the talk."

"You're welcome. I hope I helped a little and didn't seem like I was interfering in some way."

"No, not at all. I know I have issues and I need friends to help me deal with them. You're one of those friends."

"I'm glad," Dinah smiled, "Now go ahead and rest if you like. I'll just stay here and devour biscuits. It's my favorite pastime, you know."

"All right," Lucy giggled and walked towards the bedroom, "Feel free to order up some more if you want," she teased as she went on through, closing the door behind her.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Lucy woke, stretching as an owl flew in, landing on the nightstand and dropping of the <em>Daily Prophet<em>. Sirius paid the bird and it took off again. Owen was, for the fourth night in a row, sleeping in his cot in the nursery.

"Hey," Sirius said a few minutes later, nudging her more awake, "Read this."

"Whatever Rita's written I don't care," she muttered, turning and smashing her face into her pillow.

"Just read it," he insisted.

Shooting Sirius a glare she rolled over and snatched the paper from his hands.

_As you may have read in Ms. Skeeter's front page article Hogwarts has two new residents. May Eileen Snape and Owen Regulus Black join the ranks of those who call the school home. The article that has presented you with seems to suggest that Miss May's birth has been greeted with surprise and astonishment that Professor Severus Snape was capable of… well, I won't dignify it by repeating it here. It was unnecessary and, as far as I can see, rather untrue. _

_She offers a very different view of the news of Mr. Owen's arrival. Between doing her best to drag Mr. and Professor Black's characters through the proverbial mud and lift the child up as 'the next great generation' and 'heir to the illustrious Black family legacy' one doesn't know what to think. It is impossible to identify what Ms. Skeeter thinks herself._

_One must wonder where she is able to obtain her information. It is almost certain that she hasn't spoken to either couple and, though I could be wrong, there doesn't appear to be any mass hysteria over either child As it stands I believe we should only wish both couples well and let them have the privacy to bond with the new members of their families. If either of them are willing to be so generous as to grant an interview we would hope that the reporter they pick would be as kind and unbiased as possible._

_It almost baffles me that we are treating these people as celebrities. They are most certainly well-known and have done a great many good deeds for our society but it strikes me as a bit much to be hounding them in such a manner._

_With that I offer the new parents my congratulations and wish them good luck during this new stage of their lives._

"I don't even want to read Skeeter's article," Lucy frowned, climbing out of bed and almost squishing a kitten before it darted under the bed, "but I do want to go see Dinah. Do you mind watching Owen?" she asked, pulling on robes that she hoped looked halfway decent.

"No, Lucy. He's my son, I'll never mind watching him," Sirius grinned, shaking his head.

"Right," she blushed, "Okay, well, there's some bottles all ready to go in the cool box if you need them." She walked out, leaving Sirius to the rest of his relaxing morning.

Out in the hall an idea struck her that had her grinning from ear to ear. Lucy did something she hadn't done in a long time and transformed into her fox self. She trotted through the empty halls, reminding herself she needed to register still, and down to the dungeons. Her fox body reflected the changes to her human one and standing on her hind two feet to scratch at the door was a little more difficult than it used to be but she managed it and sat back, wrapping her tail around her, waiting for the door to be answered.

In a moment footsteps stormed up to the door and it was flung open as Severus glared out with a loud demand of "_What_?" His expression settled into a frown, though, as he looked from side to side, "What the…? Infernal students playing some sort of prank? I should take ten points from Gryffindor, never mind if it was a student from that house or not…" he mumbled to himself.

Lucy ignored his grumblings and walked into his office, rubbing against his legs as she passed.

"What the-?" he exclaimed again, turning and looking down to finally spot her, "Oh, it's _you_…"

She turned her nose up at him, continuing on her way before taking a seat at the door connecting his office and the rooms he shared with Dinah and Maylene.

"Oh, did I slam that shut, too?" he snarled to himself, walking up to the door and pushing it open, "Well, your presence should please Dinah at any rate."

"Who's presence? Dinah asked, yawning and standing in the doorway of the bedroom before her eyes alighted on Lucy's form and she let out a squeal of joy, running at her with her arms outstretched, "Lucy-fox, Lucy-fox, Lucy-fox!" she cheered, kneeling to scoop her up and nearly strangle her with a hug.

Lucy put her paws on Dinah's shoulder and gave her a little lick on the cheek.

Another squeal of delight and scratches behind the ears to go with it, "I missed Lucy-fox!"

"Clearly," Severus said, still seeming agitated.

Lucy squirmed until Dinah had loosened her grip enough and jumped back to the floor, returning to her human form. "I thought you'd enjoy that," she grinned, "have you seen the _Prophet_?"

"I _did_ enjoy it, that was great!" Dinah laughed, "And yes, we both saw the _Prophet_."

"Infernal Alder," Severus grumbled, "I've about had it with his 'positive spin' articles."

"Uh oh. He's very grumpy this morning," Lucy grinned, "Did I interrupt something?" She wasn't sure if it had been long enough for them to be allowed to get back to their regular… routine, but Lucy figured it had to be getting close.

"Oh, he's got a lot of reasons to be grumpy," Dinah giggled, "He's furious with Alder's articles now, not Rita's, I guess because I keep swooning over that brilliant young reporter that is so kind to us," she teased, batting her eyelashes at her husband and making him growl at her.

"Really, now?" Lucy laughed, "I didn't think Alder's article was all that bad. I didn't even bother with Rita's but I'd have thought Severus would be more annoyed with her given what Alder implied that she wrote."

"Yes, that's part two of why he's grumpy," Dinah said, her cheeks turning a bit pink, "I think he was about to try and prove to me why her suggested assessment of him was wrong when you knocked on the door."

"Dinah, she does not need to know that!" Severus fumed.

"Oh, well, I could go if you wanted…" she said, lifting an eyebrow. Lucy didn't really expect her friend to tell her to go but she was more than willing to leave if they wanted her to.

"Oh, please, don't feel like you need to," Dinah assured, waving her off, "He can finish later. I keep telling him he has nothing to prove," she said, batting her eyes at him again, this time making him turn red and wander towards the dining area muttering to himself about summoning breakfast.

Lucy sighed, "Three days, we had about three days… and I was so big it wasn't the same. Now… it feels like I'm never going to have sex again."

"Oh, sorry," Dinah said sympathetically, "We only just started up again recently. I didn't mean to make you miss it. Though I imagine you'd be missing it whether I'd said anything or not."

"Very much so," Lucy nodded, "but it's okay. I'm still a little sore so I imagine doing… _that_ wouldn't be as nice as normal anyway. I was wondering what you thought about Alder's suggestion of an interview though."

"Oh, I'd do it in a heartbeat! He did so well on the last one, after all. I think it really helped you out a lot. Same with the ones he wrote during my parseltongue time… but good luck getting him down _here_ the way Sev is so jealous," she giggled, "What were you thinking about it?"

"I wasn't sure," Lucy said honestly, "I don't really get what all the fuss is about but if it's going to be there I suppose the best we can do is direct it as best we can. Heck, I could probably use the positive press anyway."

"It can't hurt," Dinah agreed, "But I think you'll have to host it at your place this time."

"That'd be fine and then you could visit the kitties! They're getting so big."

"Oh yes," she grinned, "I think I want the one that eats a lot. Have you asked Agrona about her decision yet? I'm sure they're old enough to be adopted by now."

"I think so. She's dubbed the brown female with the two white feet Pepper. She hasn't come right out and said that's the one she wants, but she's named her so…" Lucy shrugged, "I think she wants to make sure neither of us have become especially attached to that one in particular before she says anything."

"Aww, Pepper's a sweet name," Dinah cooed, "Truthfully, I'm attached to all of them but I think I've got to have 'piggy'. We're like kindred spirits."

"Oh, good this will work out perfectly then," she clapped, "I'm rather attached to the other female. You know, grey, tabby stripes, and that one front white paw. I love them all dearly but I can't keep them. You sort of just 'know' which cat is yours. Like when I got Dora I knew the moment I saw her she was my cat."

"Yeah, I know," Dinah sighed, resting a head in her own hand dreamily, "You don't have to tell me about how picking out animals goes. Godric and I hit it off right away, and Slinky was such an easy choice. We just 'clicked', you know? Though I suppose Slinky's a bit different, since I can actually talk to him."

"Probably just a little," Lucy laughed, "Now, did you want to send Alder a note about the interviews or shall I?"

"_You_ shall," Severus decided, marching back over to them and grabbing Dinah possessively before snarling in her ear, "And _what_ interviews?"

"Oh, you know," she teased, reaching up to pat his arm, "The one Alder hinted at. Don't worry; Lucy and Sirius will host it. We just have to _be_ there."

"Yep, you just have to show up. Got to refute all those things Rita said about you, don't you?" Lucy teased.

"He was trying to do that before you showed up," Dinah reminded her while Severus growled.

"Oh, yes, of course," she blushed, "Well, I'll let you get back to it then. Owen's probably about to wake up now if he hasn't already. I'll go as myself though, seeing as I'm not registered yet… Got to get on that. I can't have Sirius doing it before me after all the grief I gave him about it, right?"

"Mm, probably not," Dinah agreed, "I was hoping May would be awake to meet your fox form but I guess that'll have to wait for another time."

"It'll happen," she assured her friend, "I'll let you know when I hear from Alder. Have fun now," she waved, stepping out of the living quarters and into Severus's office on her way back to her own rooms.

* * *

><p>"Lucy, this would go quicker if you stayed still," Remus said. There was rarely irritation in his voice but Lucy sensed that she was getting close to finding that place that would bring it out of him.<p>

She stomped her paw and flicked her tail at him, showing she wasn't any more pleased at this new development than he was. It was going to make it that much harder to get Sirius to register…

"Look," he said with a little growl, "I don't like this either, but I can't change it. They already know you're here and _why_, so changing your mind isn't a good idea either. If you continue to stalk around so I can't get the picture, I _will_ pick you up and hold you down so I can. Looking pissed off will likely keep you from being too easily recognized though."

She stopped 'stalking' and turned to glare at Remus long enough for him to pick up the camera and take her picture. It wasn't his fault the Ministry had implemented this new law just a couple weeks ago. She doubted Minerva had been made aware of it yet either. Lucy was sure the Headmistress would have said something if she'd known. If nothing else she'd have to at least take part of a day to come down and have her picture taken.

When he was done taking all the pictures he needed, Remus put everything in her file. "You should be getting your papers in about a week," he said, back to his laid-back self, "I think we'll all refrain from telling Sirius about the pictures…"

Lucy nodded. She didn't want to lie or deceive her husband like this, but he'd so reluctantly agreed to register in the first place that she didn't have the greatest confidence he would go through with it if he knew about this latest development.


	78. Chapter 78

Chapter 78

"Okay," Lucy said to Owen as she lifted him off the changing table, "Now you're all dressed up so you look very handsome." Since he was still an infant, the poor boy was still mostly without hair, though what he did have was the same black as his father's. His eyes were also a blue-grey color that Sirius insisted was turning grey, but Lucy swore at times they were getting a light brown hue to them. "You are not allowed to spit-up, mess, or otherwise alter your handsome appearance. Deal?"

"Conspiring with the baby again?" Sirius asked as she entered the living room with Owen.

"Of course," she grinned, "I want him to look nice for Alder's pictures. Can't have people thinking we don't take care of the heir to the Black fortune after all."

"And what happens if Maylene gets here and she's not so formally attired?" he asked, ignoring her quip about Owen being the heir.

"Then I'll change him. It doesn't take that long," she smiled.

"Or you could dress May up in some frilly outfit," Sirius teased, probably enjoying the thought of Severus having to endure his daughter being… frilly.

"You're horrible," she laughed, handing her son to her husband, "Here, hold him while I go retrieve the post."

There wasn't much from the owl today just the usual letters and any bills that they had coming due… and one official Ministry envelope. "It's here," she said, bouncing a little and waving the envelope at Sirius.

"Well open it then," he grinned.

She started to break the seal on the envelope but stopped, "I think I want to wait until Dinah and Severus get here. She'll be excited too."

"When are they going to get here?" he asked, looking so natural with Owen almost sleeping against his shoulder.

"Any minute, but it depends on how long Maylene sleeps and if they have an easy time getting her fed." Apparently it didn't take that long because there was soon a knock at their door. "Hi!" Lucy greeted, pulling the door open.

"Hello!" Dinah beamed, walking in with Severus behind her, channeling Sirius and carrying Maylene on his shoulder. "Where's my kitty?" Dinah asked, clapping her hands together and looking around, "Severus and I have been spending hours trying to think up the perfect name for him. Or, well, I have at least," she grinned.

Lucy laughed, "I closed them in the bedroom so they didn't get too wild with Alder here. I can let them out though. We just have to make sure they can't get out the front door because they will try."

"Whatever is most convenient for you," Dinah assured her, "I just wanted to cuddle him for a bit and see if I got hit with any kind of inspiration."

"Why don't you come in and we'll get the babies settled before I let them out? We can put them in the nursery. If you want to keep May and Owen out here we just have to keep an eye on the kitties. Pepper ha recently discovered climbing. I don't let them in the nursery though."

"The nursery is fine. Our little one is quite sleepy still, anyway. Why don't you boys take them in together and bond?" she asked, getting looks from both of them, but they still didn't complain as they took the sleeping children into the nursery. Dinah smiled at Lucy and settled down on the sofa in a spot near the one Sirius had just vacated, "I hope this interview goes as well as the last one."

"Me too. I dressed One all up in case Alder wants pictures. I can easily change him though. And I asked Alder to hold the article until after George and Angelina's wedding. I've sent pictures and Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur did come up to see him but the rest of them, well except Ginny and Hermione, haven't seen him in person and… I hope that's okay?"

"Oh, the article is more for you than for us, so I don't mind at all," Dinah said, "and May's dressed up a little. I put her in her cute dress with the ladybugs on it... sort of an odd choice now I think of it, since Rita's a beetle... "

"That reminds me!" she said, sitting down next to Dinah and holding up her letter, "Look what I got today."

"Ohh, what is it?" Dinah asked, her excitement kindled due to Lucy's enthusiasm.

"My registration papers! I went down last week and… bloody hell," Lucy muttered Ron's favorite curse as she looked down at her set of papers. There was a copy for her records, one to go on file with the school, and another… to display or something. All of them included a picture of a very pissed off looking red fox.

"What's wrong?" Dinah asked, surprised at her reaction as she leaned over and peered at them, "Everything seems to be in order, doesn't it? Though you look a little… different there," she frowned, pointing to one of the images.

"The pictures," she almost whispered, hoping Sirius would stay in the nursery just a little longer, "There never used to be… It's a new law… I didn't know… Remus didn't tell me… I was ticked… He can't falsify a picture," she finished, turning her eyes to Dinah, imploring her to understand.

"He can't… who can't falsify what?" Dinah repeated, looking perplexed.

"Remus," she said, a touch impatient, "Remus can't. He… Don't you remember? It was like the thing I said that got Sirius to change his mind. Remus registers Animagi for a bit of extra money, I mean there's not that many of us. He could have falsified a written description, made it so that maybe Snuffles is smaller than he really is or something, but a picture… He can't change a picture and if Sirius sees this… I can't hide these…"

"Wait, slow down," Dinah told her, "You mean… because if they see a picture of Sirius some people who have already seen Snuffles will recognize and know he hasn't been registered for a long time?"

"Maybe. I don't know," she shook her head, "I really mean the picture interferes with that damn freedom of his he was so intent on keeping. I don't… I'm not sure that he'll even go register now. If he sees these."

Dinah frowned, "If he doesn't I'll have something to say about it. I thought we already worked that out. But… you know, I think maybe he'll be okay. You really talked it out. I don't think he changed his mind only because of the possibility of falsifying a description."

"Even if that's true I didn't want to start not telling him things again and now…" she gestured to the pictures that she'd kept quiet about.

"I… don't know what to tell you," Dinah said with a helpless shrug, "Except maybe starting off with honesty would probably have been better. I mean, even if you got him to the registry office without him knowing about the pictures he would find out then and since he knows you already registered he would know you hadn't told him. Unless you and Remus pretended that the rule was new and you hadn't had to do it, but I _really_ wouldn't have advised that. Hiding things always comes back to bite you in the end. No pun intended," she grinned to lighten things up a bit, pointing to the face of the fox in the picture.

Lucy laughed, "That it does. I don't know that either of us would have gone through with not telling him either. I just… don't know _how_ to tell him."

"Tell him what?" Sirius asked, closing the nursery door behind him as he and Severus exited.

"This," Lucy said, nervously handing him the letter.

He didn't say a word as he took the registration papers from her. He didn't yell or crumple them up like she expected him to. There was a distinct change in his face though, one that told her he wasn't exactly pleased. "They do… pictures now and… you didn't tell me."

"I didn't know how," she explained, urgency in her voice, "Things are good right now, with everything… I didn't want to start an argument or… anything."

Sirius gave a little chuckle and leaned over to kiss the top of her head, "You and your strange trust issues. I already promised to do this, didn't I? I might not like it but I'm not going to give you grief about it or refuse to do it. I promised. Besides, if I make _that_ face Snuffles is going to look rather different, isn't he?" he grinned, pointing at the picture of Lucy's fox.

"I imagine so," Lucy grinned, relieved that there hadn't been a big blow up over the pictures. In some ways she felt a bit stupid for even thinking that this would cause some sort of problem with getting Sirius to register.

"Well, there, that's settled then," Dinah said, offering her a smile.

"Yes, it is," Lucy confirmed and turned to her friend's husband, "Why, Severus, don't you look handsome today? Did you get all dressed up for Alder too?"

Severus's eyes narrowed, "Are you 'messing' with me again? I look the same as I always do, as far as I can tell."

"Oh, just a little bit," she laughed, "though I _do_ think you look extra sharp today. I can't imagine why that is." She knew; oh, she knew, but she certainly wasn't going to say it out loud. Severus would likely retroactively remove points from Ravenclaw if she said anything.

He growled at her as Dinah just giggled; "Now, Lucy said you're handsome, and you most certainly are, dear. The appropriate response is 'thank you'," she told him.

"Just tell me when this infernal reporter is going to arrive so we can get this over with and I can take you - and we can go home," he decided, ignoring her demand to say 'thank you'.

"He'll be another five minutes at least, unless he gets here early," Sirius said, taking pity on the other man.

"You're just taking Dinah back with you?" Lucy asked, still messing with Severus, "Does that mean you're leaving Maylene with us? You trust _us_, the Blacks, with your baby daughter?"

Severus sighed and flopped into a chair, folding his arms in front of his chest which formed a not-unfamiliar image, "Whether I do or do not is beside the point, and I hereby order you to stop messing for the afternoon," he glared.

"Uh oh, you'd better do what he says," Dinah said with a playful wince, but then leaned over and whispered conspiratorially to Lucy, "And I think he does trust you. We've had conversations about babysitting already, after all."

"Very true," Lucy nodded, pointing as her husband went and opened the bedroom door, "Here comes the kitties."

"Oh!" Dinah squeaked, leaning over and holding out her arm, rubbing her fingers together, "Come here, my kitty, come here you cute one that loves to eat a lot - there!" she smiled when 'piggy' came right to her, scooping him up into her arms and perching on Severus's lap with him, "Loooook, it's our other baby…" she cooed, sticking the small animal under Severus's nose.

He cleared his throat, turning his head away and gently pressing Dinah's arm down along with the kitten, "One baby is enough."

"Now, now," Lucy grinned, "Dora's done most of the raising for you. Besides what happens if Dinah has twins next time? The odds increase with…" she broke off when she was interrupted by a knock on the door, "That must be Alder. Want me to get that or should we let Dinah answer the door?"

He scowled, "Keep that up and you _won't_ be babysitting Maylene. Nor will we take your cat."

"Hey!" Dinah protested, hugging her kitten closer to her chest.

Lucy rolled her eyes, laughing, "I'll keep the cat, I don't mind." She went to the door and opened it, revealing the reporter that Severus was none too pleased to see. "Sedley. Good to see you."

"You as well," he smiled, "Thank you so much for granting the interview. I'll do my best to portray you and the children in the best light I can."

"I'm sure you will," she assured, closing the door behind him and urging him towards the sofas. "I, uh, hope you don't mind cats," she said, watching the two female kittens — Pepper and the one she'd dubbed Snowflake — bat at Severus's robes. Dora, ever watchful, hopped up to cuddle next to him and Dinah.

"Not at all," he said, smiling at the scene but backing off a bit when he saw Severus's scowl, "Professor Snape, Dinah," he gave them a cautious nod in greeting.

"It's so good to see you!" Dinah smiled, "I wanted so much to thank you in _person_ for the last article - oh, but first, _you_ wouldn't let them take my kitty away from me, would you?" she asked, pouting a little and lifting piggy to her cheek as Severus started to growl.

"Ah…" he chuckled, looking a bit confused as his gaze shifted between the Snapes, "I don't imagine so. But who is trying to take it away?"

"Lucy and Severus."

"Oh, I am not," Lucy protested with a laugh, "I merely said I'd be willing to keep the cat if Severus refused to let _you_ keep it."

"Well, that won't happen, will it, Sedley?" Dinah asked, sticking her nose in the air.

"I imagine you won't let it happen," he laughed, sitting down, "Now, shall we get started? As for last article, it was my pleasure. I try to report the truth where I can."

"If only all reporters were like you," Lucy sighed, taking a seat next to Sirius. "As you can see our kitties just love Severus. Frankly I'm surprised he didn't have Mrs. Norris or Crookshanks following after him all those years."

Severus snorted, "A ridiculous notion. Can we get on with the questioning, please?"

"Of course," Lucy grinned, relenting a little bit, "Where would you like to start, Sedley? Rita's pondering of Severus's… skills in the bedroom or her inability to decide if Sirius and I are the worst people ever or the perfect pair to reestablish the Black dynasty?"

"I, um... doubt Professor Snape has any desire to discuss the former," Alder decided, watching the snarling Severus warily, "Perhaps we should discuss this 'Black dynasty' you speak of. In your opinion, is there such a thing any longer? If so, do you have a desire to change the meaning of its legacy from what it once was?" he asked, taking out his quill.

"I don't know that I'd call it a dynasty but it certainly is an old family with plenty of tradition and… was well established in the upper echelons of society. I don't think either Sirius or myself is particularly interested in bringing the family back into society as it once was. Certainly there are still people around that remember Sirius's parents and perhaps his grandparents as well. I don't want to completely obliterate what the family was because it is still history; it is part of my child's… ancestry, but that doesn't mean we hold to the same ideals as they did. We couldn't possibly…"

"My parents, and a good portion of the rest of the family, were idiots. It's no secret we didn't get along. They were full of pure-blood mania and thought that as Blacks we were practically royal. I ran away at sixteen and was disowned and disinherited. My Uncle Alphard was disowned for giving me money. My son will not be growing up in a family like that."

"Mm, I see," the reporter nodded, writing their words down in his notes, "Then it is probably a good thing we're having this interview and making this information public. Now, what about the remaining surviving members of the Black family? It is really only the two sisters at this point, correct, Narcissa and Andromeda and their families? Though I suppose the latter has been 'disowned' as well?"

"Yes," was Sirius's short answer, "Andromeda was disowned for marrying a Muggle born. Ted Tonks was a good man."

"Like all pure-blood families the Blacks _are_ related to nearly all the wizarding families but, yes, I'd agree that Narcissa and Andromeda are the last of the main branch," Lucy added.

"I suppose they might have an interesting reaction to this article, then," he frowned, jotting down more notes.

"Likely," Sirius agreed.

"Oh, now I really don't think Andromeda will have a problem with any of this. I'm very close with her daughter. We were best friends all throughout school. She's pretty easygoing. I really couldn't comment about Narcissa. I don't know that I've ever met her…"

"Hmm... I imagine she may have some sort of response to your article, I'll say that much," Severus said slowly, "My wife and I speak with her from time to time."

"Oh now really, Severus, you're not even going to use my first _name_ with Alder? You're that worried?" Dinah threw in, rolling her eyes, "Stop being ridiculous."

"I think that might be his middle name," Lucy teased.

Severus growled at Lucy. Meanwhile, Alder was looking back and forth among them all, asking, "I'm sorry. I don't understand. What is going on here?"

"Oh, you really don't want to know," Dinah assured him, still looking irritated with her husband.

"It's probably better for your health if you don't," Lucy agreed.

"Really?" he murmured, looking completely perplexed.

"Oh, I might tell you," Severus began in an agitated huff, "It seems Dinah is-"

"Would you shut up?" Dinah snapped, glaring daggers at her husband while he snarled at her, "It's not even like that and you know it."

Sedley's eyebrows went up, "You know, if I _were_ Rita Skeeter I'd be inclined to write 'trouble in paradise' or some such nonsense in my notes. You two do know that you are here to _counter_ Rita's statements, right? To prove your affections for each other. It might be good not to fight and to at least _act_ like you love each other."

"I love him!" Dinah snapped at Alder now, "He's just acting like a child!"

"I remember the days when it was us who were acting like children and they were the mature ones," Lucy giggled and looked at Sirius.

Alder chuckled, turning to look at the Snapes again.

"Oh, hush," Dinah admonished Lucy before turning to glare at her husband, "You going to clean up your act now? You do love _me_, don't you?"

"Of course I love you, you stupid woman!" he snapped.

"Oh!" Dinah stood abruptly, hugging the small cat to her chest, "I will _not_ be called stupid! Come on piggy, we're leaving! The babies will be better company, and more mature, too!" she decided, marching off towards the nursery with the cat and closing the door behind her while Severus just folded his arms and growled some more.

"Um... " Sedley looked uneasily from the nursery door to Severus and then over to the safety of Lucy, "Piggy... ?"

"The kitten," she explained, "Did you want to go back to the interview or do you think I should go bring Dinah back out first?"

"Hmm. Perhaps you could try to calm her down? I was going to suggest you bring the children out at this point anyway, so you might as well go in and try to bring her back," he decided.

"Okay, I'll be right back then. Everyone behave while I'm gone," Lucy giggled and stood to head into the nursery. "Dinah?" she asked cautiously as she shut the door behind her.

"What?" Dinah asked irritably, before turning to smile at Maylene who was now awake and tickle her toes.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, pulling back a little. She'd been an Auror, she could handle conflict… she really didn't like it though.

Her friend sighed, still focused on the baby and not looking at her, "I guess. I'm pissed at my husband, if you can't tell. His jealousy over Alder was amusing at first, but…"

"Um… yes, I noticed," she said, coming over to checking on Owen, who was still sleeping, "Men are ridiculous. We already know this," Lucy smiled.

Dinah managed to crack a little smile, "Yeah, I know. But really, Lucy. It's not even as though I have a real _crush_ on Alder. I mean, okay, it's a little one in some ways, but it's more complete admiration for everything he's done for us. He's an impressive young man. That's all. It's not like I spend every moment swooning over him. What's making Severus exaggerate my actions so?"

"Maybe he's insecure," Lucy offered, "Think about the last time he liked a girl and she had a crush on someone else…"

Dinah looked at Lucy for a moment and then sighed, shifting her gaze back down to Maylene before saying softly, "I know. But Severus knows that I love him; we've talked about this. So why is he making such a scene?"

"I don't know… I suppose it's rather like how last year Sirius nearly punched Nick at that Slug Club party."

Dinah heaved a frustrated sigh, "_Men_. Though I suppose if anyone knows how to make a scene it's Severus."

Lucy laughed, picking Owen up and snuggling him against her, "He does do that."

"Yeah. But he can't get away with calling me a 'stupid woman' in front of Alder!" Dinah decided, hefting Maylene into her arms, "Well, let's get out there and show him the kids, shall we?"

"I think so. They look excited," she teased.

Dinah giggled, "Oh, yes they do, don't they? They must even know that they're dressed for success," she said, fingering one of the ladybug buttons on May's dress as they headed out of the nursery.

When Dinah spied Severus her lips pursed and she marched up behind his chair, reaching her arms over his shoulders so she could plop Maylene into his lap, "Here," she snapped, "We need to introduce our _child_ to Sedley here. You know, the one we produced through sexual intercourse because we loooooooove each other so much?"

"Why you infernal… be silent!" Severus snarled, his face paling in embarrassment as he and Dinah growled at each other.

"Oh, relax," Lucy grinned, handing her own child to Sirius, "Here. Hold the child we produced through sexual intercourse because we love each other so much."

"Plenty of it," Sirius smirked.

"I counter that," Dinah decided, "Owen was only produced in _one_ session regardless of how much you have normally."

"Yes, but if we hadn't been so active…"

"I think we can stop there," Lucy blushed. If Dinah really wanted to know when and where Owen occurred she could ask but Lucy was trying to be more circumspect about these things.

"Oh, quit bragging," Dinah huffed, folding her arms across her chest, "Besides, I'm just sure we've got you beat now due to the pregnancy situation, even if I _do_ end up withholding favors for the next couple of days."

"Dinah," Severus said through gritted teeth, "I have told you a hundred times to shut up, and I hardly think our particular problem will be solved well by you _continuing_ to behave in a way in which-"

"Well, maybe it'll teach you a lesson," she cut him off.

"Now look here, you two," Sedley interrupted in a surprisingly stern tone, "If you don't stop this fighting soon I am going to _have_ to write about it. I may try to be a good reporter to counter Rita's sensationalism, but I am still a journalist. I have to write what I see."

"Yes, you can finish your fight _after_ the interview. Please?" Lucy cajoled, "_I_, at least, need this to go well. I can use all the good press I can get."

Dinah looked over at Lucy and heaved a sigh, nodding as she walked around from behind Severus's chair to sit on the arm of it next to him, transfiguring it into a love-seat to give her a more comfortable bit of space, "All right. Fine." She turned to look up at her husband, "Shall we call a temporary truce? At least until after the interview?"

"Hmph," Severus snorted, "Temporary. Indeed."

"Yes. Temporary," Dinah huffed.

"Thank you," Lucy smiled, grateful for their cooperation, "Now, Sedley. This is Owen," she said, tickling his chin a little, "He's adorable, cute, and laid-back. I love him."

The reporter smiled, looking over at the baby, "He's very sweet. Now, what is it that Rita said about him?"

"That he's the heir to the family legacy and that he'll be the greatest catch for an attractive pureblood witch from an equally pureblooded family. Or something like that," Sirius frowned.

"I see. Well, he's a bit young for that sort of thing right now, isn't he?" Sedley asked, "And do either of you have any expectations for the type of person he marries? Do you feel he needs to continue any sort of pureblood legacy?"

"No, of course not," Sirius snorted, "I ran away from my parents partially for that reason."

Lucy laid a calming hand on his knee and added, "I expect him to marry someone he loves. I want my son to be happy. That's all. Would I like him to have an amazing career, be successful, and have a wife and children? Yes, of course, but if he chooses to go another way, that's okay. I don't want him to ever worry that we won't love him because he didn't make the choice we might have liked, to worry that he's not enough, not worthy of our love and devotion, because he is and he will always be. It's cliché but…I've always _liked_ kids, always wanted them. I never knew how much I'd _love_ my own, how much a parent is _supposed_ to love their child."

Alder smiled, "Well, I think you two seem like very good, devoted parents indeed. And your words contradict most of Rita's statements, which is good," he said, scribbling on his notepad.

"Excellent," Lucy beamed, "Was there anything else you wanted to address?"

"Hmm…" he frowned, "Well… I hate to bring it up, but…" he gestured to the end table beside the sofa with a significant look, "I just happened to notice those papers sitting there. They appear to be an Animagus registry?"

"Um, yes. It is," Lucy nodded and blushed.

"Is that so?" his eyes went wide, "Well, then… details? Whatever it is, it's probably better for me to get the information out before Rita does. Animagus registries _are_ public, after all." He looked quite excited to be getting this information ahead of his rival.

"What sort of details would you like?" she asked, "I am a registered Animagus. I just received those papers today. As you can probably tell, my Animagus is a red fox."

"Do you mind if I look at the papers?" he asked, nodding at them in indication.

"Um, no, go ahead. They arrived just before you did. There's a copy to put on file with the school but obviously I haven't had a chance to give it to Minerva yet."

He nodded, taking the papers and looking them over with a critical eye, "Mmhm. Mm_hm_," he said at regular intervals, jotting notes down on his own pad of parchment as he went, "My, my, that's interesting. And what, may I ask, made you decide to become an Animagus, Lucy? It's not very common, not at all."

"Oh, a number of reasons I suppose," Lucy said. She knew, deep down, that one of the reasons had been to gain some sort of approval from her father, but that didn't need to be revealed and she wasn't sure she could talk about that without mentioning how _long_ she'd been an Animagus anyway. "I enjoy pushing the limits of my knowledge and abilities. One of my best friends is a metamorphmagus so I guess that was part of my thought process too."

"Ah, I see," he agreed, "I assume you're referring to Nymphadora Lupin?"

Lucy laughed a little, "Yes, but she prefers Tonks."

"You mean she prefers her maiden name?"

Sirius couldn't contain his explosion of laughter, "I guess you could say that."

"It's not that she prefers her maiden name in the way that you mean," Lucy explained with a grin, "She just hates her actual first name and has gone by Tonks as long as I've known her. It'd be weird if we started calling her Lupin now, especially as that's how we sometimes refer to Remus. Though I guess it would be strange to call her 'Tonks Lupin' in your article. Nymphadora's probably fine there. It is her legal name after all. Just… for future reference if you ever have cause to meet or interview her you'll want to call her Tonks."

"Oh, I see. Interesting," he nodded, writing this down, "Thanks for the warning. Well, it looks like your Animagus papers are well in order, though I can't imagine why you posed so angrily for that picture. Maybe you should explain that to me; you know, Rita might make more trouble if she's allowed to come to her own interpretation of why you're growling there," he decided, pointing at the snarling fox image.

"Ah, well that's simple," Lucy explained, "I didn't know they took pictures now. It was a surprise and clearly I didn't want my picture taken."

"Oh, I didn't realize you were camera shy," he teased, grinning and seeming satisfied for now as he handed the papers back to her, "But that reminds me. It might be a good idea to get a photograph of you two with the baby, or at least a photograph of little Owen. And Maylene too, of course…" he hesitated, turning to look at Dinah and Severus who had been silent and scowly for the entirety of when he'd interviewed Lucy; "You know, you two, if you keep those expressions on your faces I might _also_ have to report it."

Dinah rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine. You expect us to _smile_, too? You know, you've been pretty nosy today and it's starting to get on my nerves."

"Well, it's about t-"

"You stay out of this!" she cut Severus off.

Sedley sighed, "I'm still a reporter, you know. Nosiness is in my nature," he explained, not offering any excuse or apology for who he was, "But I _do_ want to give you two good publicity if I can. I really do. So, do you think you might be able to _try_ and look like this temporary truce of yours is really a truce?"

They both smirked and exchanged glances, but finally Dinah shrugged, "I give up. I suppose it's better than getting bad publicity again," she decided, settling herself more comfortably on the arm of Severus's chair and reaching to slide her hand into his free one, the one that wasn't holding Maylene. The other couple looked at each other again as Severus turned his gaze to hers. Their expressions were mostly unreadable at first, but then they both sighed and Severus's thumb began to move back and forth over Dinah's hand. They glanced away from each other, but kept their hands locked, and Lucy couldn't help but think that maybe their temporary truce would start to turn into a more permanent one.

She smiled and settled into Sirius's lap when he tugged her there, moving Owen out of her way and holding him in front of both of them. "What a beautiful little person we made," she sighed, smoothing some of Owen's soft baby hair back and stroking his puckered little lips.

"He was worth all that trouble, wasn't he?" Sirius murmured in her ear.

Lucy looked into his eyes and gave him a brief kiss, "Undoubtedly."

"He looks just like you both," Alder smiled, starting to snap pictures, but making inquiries at the same time, "Now, by 'trouble' I assume you mean all the hype created by Rita? Or something else?"

"Skeeter caused it," Sirius grumbled.

"It wasn't all her fault," Lucy said and turned to Alder, "I almost miscarried twice is what he means by trouble…"

Alder's eyes widened and he nodded, filling his notepad with that new, juicy bit of information, "Is that so? Well, this is good."

"Like hell it is," Sirius grated, trying to hand Lucy the baby and move her so he could… well, she assumed so he could punch Alder.

The reporter, for his part, looked up with wide, nervous eyes and visibly shrunk back before waving his hands in the air in front of him, "No, no, no, no. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it in that way! I was just… I was focused on my thoughts and it came out wrong. I meant it's good that you've told me about it; we can make the point against Rita now that her false information causes unnecessary stress and negative consequences."

Lucy let out a nervous breath as Sirius leaned back in the seat, taking Owen back, "No… I'm sorry. I… _might_ have overreacted."

"He does tend to be overprotective," she expanded.

"Ah… that's fine. I might be able to report that trait and make it work in your favor as well... somehow," he said, hesitantly returning his quill to his pad.

"It's good," Lucy assured, "I like being protected. It's a safe and secure feeling."

He smiled, "That's a nice sentiment. Now, is there anything else you'd like to discuss before I move over and _try_ to photograph the Snapes and Maylene?"

Lucy thought about the issues with Henley, how they might further explain her acceptance and enjoyment of Sirius's overprotective nature but still shook her head. _That_ business didn't need to be in the papers, especially not at her own hands. "No, I can't think of anything."

"All right. Well, thank you very much for all the information. I wish you both and Owen the best," he said, reaching over to pat their baby on the head.

"Thank you," Lucy blushed. When Owen started fussing and giving out little squalls of annoyance she stood and held her arms out for her son. "He probably needs his nappy changed."

"I got it," Sirius said, waving her away and taking their child into the nursery.

Sighing, she stared after him, "I married a good man."

Sedley chuckled and gave her a smile, "I can see that you two love each other very much. And, of course, it can only benefit your reputation in the article if I mention that Sirius is more than willing to participate in all the more menial tasks of childrearing."

Lucy hugged herself, quite happy with her husband at the moment, "Thanks. Now, don't be surprised if Severus refuses to smile for the camera."

He shook his head, "When it comes to those two, _nothing_ would surprise me today. Now, let's take a look at little Maylene here," he said, turning to face the Snapes who were still holding hands but not looking completely cheerful again just yet; "Is there anything you'd like to say about your little girl before we commence with the pictures?"

Severus sighed and nodded, while Dinah smiled and smoothed Maylene's hair, "She's a very sweet, well-behaved baby. She's quiet and sleeps through the night… we really have no complaints whatsoever. We adore her." Severus nodded, but still refused to offer a smile even without the camera on him.

"I can see that. She hasn't fussed at all during this long interview," Alder smiled, reaching across to let little Maylene take a hold of his finger, "And she seems quite inquisitive," he added, looking into her bright grey eyes which had remained open, taking everything in quietly.

"I like to think so. She's a good, smart girl," Dinah beamed.

"Mm, and she has your eyes. In fact, I see quite a bit of _both_ of you in her," Sedley said, "There's no way, if we get a picture, anyone could even try to dispute that she is the child of the two of you."

"Mm. She is beautiful like her mother," Severus decided.

"Oh…" Dinah ducked her head to hide her blush, "That's so nice. But you're beautiful too, you know," she murmured, "She may have many of my features but she has your face and your silky black hair… like Alder said, she's clearly both of ours. That's why she's so perfect."

"Hm," Severus said, a hint of a blush in his face as well, "Indeed." Suddenly he frowned and looked decidedly up at Alder, "Though perhaps _you_ haven't noticed my wife's beauty."

"Hey!" Dinah exclaimed, her demeanor shifting as she turned to glare at her husband and place her hands squarely on her hips.

"I think I might start to feel jealous because no one's calling me beautiful," Lucy teased.

"Oh, you look fine, and I'm sure _everyone_ notices it," Dinah waved her off, "Apparently most people don't notice me."

"I… that is not what I meant!" Severus exclaimed, at least looking like he realized he made a _faux pas_.

"Yeah, I know what you meant," Dinah grumbled, rubbing her brow, "You're lucky you have such an intuitive, understanding wife."

"Aren't we all," Sirius said, coming back into the room and kissing Lucy on the head.

"Well, Severus might not be so grumpy if Pepper wasn't trying to climb his robes," Lucy laughed, getting up to snatch the adventurous kitten.

"Aww, gimme," Dinah whined, reaching across for the animal.

"What about piggy?" Lucy asked, obediently handing over the kitty.

"He's coming home with me; I need to give love to all the ones that aren't before they get taken away, especially Pepper here," she decided, snuggling the cat and turning to Alder who was writing things on his notepad, "You'd better not be writing down our last exchange."

"Oh really?" he smirked, "Is it all right if I write down that both you and your husband are completely mental?"

"No!"

Lucy laughed, "Then might I suggest you pose for pictures before loving on the kitties too much?"

She sighed, nodding, "All right. Let's do this. Here," she placed the kitty next to Maylene on Severus's knee and smiled as the little creature went up to sniff the baby, "How sweet. Though I suppose if we include Pepper in the pictures it'll just make things more complicated. Not that there is anything that dramatic about a cat but I bet Rita would come up with something."

"Hmm, I could probably add an explanation to address it, but it's probably better to not have a cat in the picture," Alder agreed, gently lifting up Pepper and setting her on his lap instead, "This article is getting long enough as it is."

Dinah giggled, standing up from her seat on the arm of Severus's chair, "And it seems you're secretly a cat lover, too," she said, pointing at Pepper.

He chuckled, "A bit, I suppose. I have a dog, myself. Now, where would you like to stand or sit so we can get these photographs taken?"

"I thought you'd get a better angle if I went over here," Dinah said, walking around the back of the chair to sneak in on Severus's other side, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind, "And afterwards you'll have to tell me all about your doggie. Oh, hush," she chuckled, kissing Severus on the cheek when he grumbled at her conversation with Alder.

"Yes, hush," Lucy agreed, with a grin, "I happen to know some very sweet dogs."

"They make good pets," he agreed, nodding and then turning to Sirius as he prepared his camera, "As a matter of fact, I thought you had a dog, Sirius. I seem to recall an 'attack dog' mentioned in one of Rita's rubbish articles from last year…"

"Oh… uh… um…" Lucy's panicked gaze flitted from Sirius to the Snapes and back. _This_ is why she wanted him to register, what she was worried about. Lucy personally didn't care when Sirius did it, just so long as he did.

"Yes," Sirius cleared his throat, looking a little flustered himself, "He's a big dog and needs space to run. We let him out and he just runs. Always comes home eventually."

"Oh. I see…" Alder frowned, looked almost ready to ask something else, but then just shrugged and wrote it down. Dinah turned a look to Lucy, her eyes wide with surprise and relief as she smiled, then cast an admiring look in Alder's direction.

"The pictures," Severus grated, his eyes narrowing, as Dinah blushed and bit her lip with a soft 'oops'.

"Yes, yes, all ready. Now, Professor Snape, if you could just sit Maylene up so that we can see her well in the picture. Yes, just like that. Dinah - oh, good, yes, but your hand on her shoulder so you're both touching the baby. Now, if you'd just lean into your husband - yes, like that, and smile…" he frowned, looking at Severus expectantly.

Dinah sighed, "Oh, come now, can't you at least smile a _little_? We need to make a good impression here."

It was Severus's turn to sigh and he turned up the corners of his mouth the barest fraction before lowering them again.

She shook her head, "Sorry, Sedley, I think that's the best you're going to get. I have a trick to get him to smile that worked at our wedding but he might not be in the mood for it now, I'm afraid…"

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "We can only mess with Severus so much before he retaliates."

"Hm… I suppose," Alder agreed, "Can you just get him to smile slightly a few more times so I can continue to snap pictures then?"

"Well, I'll try," Dinah decided, leaning in to her husband's ear and murmuring, "Severus."

His lips turned up again, but…

"Well, that's a smirk," Dinah decided, "Try again. The faster you smile the faster we get this over with."

"Fine," he growled, but managed a couple more barely-there, very brief smiles when Dinah leaned back into him. At least, it was enough so that Alder finally claimed to be satisfied.

"You think you have everything you'll need then?" Lucy asked, as Alder prepared to go.

He nodded, "I do. You might need to give it a few days before I can get the article written, though. I got a lot of information this time. But no worries; I'll guard my notes with my life until they're published. Rita won't get to the paper first this time."

"Take as much time as you need," she assured, "I was actually hoping you'd be willing to hold the article until Easter break. It's just… my cousin is getting married the weekend before Easter and the last thing his fiancée needs is to have to contend with an article about me. She's already going to have to compete for attention with Owen. Everybody's gotten pictures but not everyone's gotten a chance to see him yet…"

"Oh… that long?" Alder frowned, "That's two weeks… could be difficult…" he sighed, "Fine, I'll do it. But I wish you had told me sooner."

"I'm sorry," Lucy apologized, "I didn't think…" She frowned at the room wondering if she'd made some mistake, one that would have been obvious to others.

"I hadn't realized you wanted to hold it," Dinah admitted, "It probably _would_ have been better to let Alder know that when you invited him over…"

"Sorry," she mumbled again, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"Lucy, it's okay. People make mistakes," Sirius said, coming over to put his free arm around her waist.

Sedley sighed, "That's true. And I'm not _upset_, per se, but next time please let me know about this sort of thing. I don't want you to feel bad."

Lucy looked up and smiled at him, a little proud that she hadn't started bawling on the spot. "Okay," she nodded, "and don't worry about it. Just an old habit really."

"Mm. Well, thank you for the information and the photographs, both if you. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to contact me, but I wish both of your families the best."

"Thank you, that's so kind of you," Dinah smiled as Severus grunted some sort of acknowledgment.

"Very kind," Lucy agreed as she showed the reporter to the door and, after a round of goodbyes, closed it behind him. "Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Not much of it, anyway," Dinah agreed, shifting Maylene to her shoulder now that the baby had started to look sleepy.

"Oh, please don't fight," she frowned, not wanting to cause her friends trouble, "I was only teasing earlier about you and Sedley."

"Oh, don't worry," Dinah said, coming over and patting her shoulder, "We'll work it out. That said, we should probably get going."

"Okay," Lucy nodded, feeling reassured, "One's probably about ready for a feed. I feel like he will be anyway," she giggled, "See you soon?"

"At breakfast tomorrow, I'm sure," she grinned, "At some point we should sit down and decide when it's time to separate the kittens from their mother, too. And I'll keep thinking about good names to use. Have a good rest of your evening."

"Yes, we should," Lucy agreed, "Have a good night," she said, walking their last set of visitors to the door and seeing them out.

Lucy smiled, took her son, who was just now beginning to make noises about getting his supper, and opened her robes providing him with his well-deserved meal. "We did good… and stumbled on another reason for you to register."

"Lucy…"

"I don't want to fight about it," she said, looking down at Owen, "I'm only…"

"I know and it'll happen. In time. The last thing we need is Alder getting a hold of that information…"

"Exactly," she nodded.

"Soon," he promised, "Soon."


	79. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Dinah adjusted Maylene's position on her shoulder again as she followed her husband through his office and into their living quarters after visiting the Blacks and having their interview session with Alder. She made sure to close and lock all doors behind her.

"Well," Severus declared when they made it into the main living area, starting to walk towards some of his potion cupboards, "I believe I shall go prepare a draught of-"

"Oh, no, you're not getting away that easily," Dinah didn't have to think quickly to know what he was trying to do, as she shot her arm out to latch onto his and pull him back.

Though she kept her grip strong, she knew that if her husband wanted to, he was perfectly strong enough to wrench himself from her grasp. So when he heaved a snarly sigh, but relaxed his shoulders and stopped trying to run away she knew he had at least resigned himself to having this out with her. He turned to face her, looking agitated.

"Do you mind explaining to me what that was all about back there?" she demanded, "Now, granted I knew you'd be grumpy about things, but I really didn't expect such an attitude problem. You know. all that intense jealousy does harken back a bit to your 'psycho-obsessed-stalker' days." It was a bit harsh, but she had to make it clear. There would be none of that sort of jealousy in their relationship.

"Is that so?" he snarled, "As if you know everything. You, then, expect me to sit back and watch you shamelessly flirt with that reporter?"

"Oh, honestly!" It was Dinah's turn to snarl. In fact, she felt like stamping her foot, but at that moment her daughter chose to whimper and shift in her arms, reminding her that she needed to be put down for bed. She sighed, "I'm going to put this on hold so I can put Maylene in her cot for the night. You sit!" she ordered, pointing to the couch, "I won't be long."

"I am not required to take orders from-"

"Severus Snape, your daughter is tired and I am not in the mood. Sit down."

He growled at her, but moved to seat himself, not ceasing to glare as he did so. But Dinah felt quite satisfied as she nodded her approval and then carried Maylene off into the bedroom. Perhaps, Dinah thought, she herself was the only person Severus could not intimidate, and that was just as well. She didn't think she _intimidated _him, per se, but it was nice to know that he respected her enough to go along with this. It also meant that somewhere, deep down, he knew he was in the wrong. It would have been the same type of situation in reverse. Dinah would have backed off if she knew she had made a mistake about something. So it would work out. She had not lied to Lucy; they would sort through this now, and then not have to deal with it again later.

Placing Maylene down for sleep after giving her a little kiss on the forehead, Dinah regarded her slumbering daughter. It was about time to move the cot into the nursery. They were both ready now, she thought. May was older now and Dinah would feel secure enough letting her have her own room. It was already a little bittersweet, though, that she no longer felt herself clinging to a tiny newborn to keep safe in their bedroom. But, at the same time, as Maylene grew older there would be plenty of other adventures to be had. She still had her first words, her first steps...

Dinah sighed, smiling at the sleeping baby and leaning over to give her one more good-night kiss before returning to address her husband and his remaining issues.

"I need to ask you something," she announced when she had walked in front of the couch and stood staring down at him, squaring her hands on her hips in challenge.

He looked up, smirking at her, clearly not happy with his current position, which was just as well; "Yes?"

"Do you seriously think that I would ever leave you for another man?"

"Of course not!" His response was immediate. In fact, he looked surprised at the notion. And that was just as Dinah had expected.

"Then why all the jealousy?" she said, letting out a big sigh that had built up within her over all this confusion, "And why exaggerate it? You talk as though I've been positively _drooling _over Alder and all I've really made are little comments here and there about how impressive I find him. And he has done many good things for us. You should find him impressive, too."

"I do not deny that his articles have been helpful," Severus grumbled, "But it is the _way _you make those comments. And the look in your eyes when you do so. You shouldn't look like that when thinking of another man. Is it wrong for me to think that way?"

"It's... " Dinah frowned, feeling her huffiness start to fade, "It's not _wrong_, but you should be able to differentiate between a playful attraction and serious interest. You have to know I'm only seriously interested in you. But I'm not going to just cease all of my natural reactions to other things. It wasn't even a big thing. It was playful. And you're the one who has made it into an issue in the time since the last article. I thought we had put this behind us after I told you I was just goofing off the first time, but the minute Alder pops back into the picture your jealousy comes back full force? I don't understand."

"I cannot interpret all of your hidden meanings," he decided, looking annoyed as he waved a hand in front of his face, "All I know is that I see you making a fool of yourself over that much younger man and I would rather not have to witness it if at all possible."

Dinah took in all of that, recalling a prior conversation and sighing again as she felt she had to address it; "So much I still have to teach you, it seems," she said, coming forward and turning so that she could sit next to her husband on the sofa, "First of all, again, be glad that you have an intuitive and understanding wife. Any normal woman would have taken that as an insult and interpreted as you calling her old."

Severus's brow furrowed as he digested that information and then he heaved a sigh, "Women. You are all this incomprehensible?"

"_I'm _not. I'm just telling you how _most _women would have taken that," she told him, looking up to meet his gaze, "Lucy mentioned something in the nursery this evening and I wonder if it's true... "

"Yes?" he grumbled as he thought of Lucy.

"Is this because... in your past, you always had to witness the one you cared for liking someone else? Is this a relic of that? This discomfort when I'm not focused directly on you?"

Severus's expression grew a bit subdued at her comment and she watched carefully as he considered it. Finally, he sighed, "Perhaps you are not the only one who is intuitive. I suppose it does hit a nerve because of that. It may be worse, actually, than it was with Lily. Because you are far more precious to me."

His words calmed, made Dinah a little warm inside, "I know," she murmured, "And you know you don't have to keep reassuring me of that, either."

"I know. But I want to," he admitted, his gaze softening, "I still like to tell you."

"I know," she murmured again, sighing and wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder, feeling quite comfortable but not quite finished with the conversation, "Oh, Severus. I love you. Now what are we going to do about this?"

"Must something be done about it?" he asked, reaching his arms around her in return.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. Because I'm not going to deal with this same reaction every time I notice an attractive man. I can't stop that, you know. I'm human. I'm going to notice other men just as you are going to notice other women."

"I never notice other women," he decided, sounding quite noble in the current moment.

It made Dinah laugh, "Oh, come now, Severus, be reasonable. I _know _you notice attractive women. What about Lucy? The way she likes to tease and embarrass you, but all in good fun. I think you might even have a little crush on her, or at least might on rare occasion."

"That is utterly preposterous!" he growled.

"Oh, I don't think so," she giggled, "And you don't have to be embarrassed. She's made you blush on occasion. So has Rosa. You're getting used to being 'liked' and are making new friends… it's a different world, I'm sure, than what you're used to. And you can't help looking. No one can help looking. It's human nature."

"But…" he grumbled, his brow furrowed again as he worked out these basic things that were intuitive to many others, "'Looking' is just that. It means nothing. It is not something serious nor something I would ever act upon."

"_Exactly_!" she stressed, encouraged at his epiphany, "Oh, Severus, don't you see? That's how it is with Alder. With any other attractive man. It's not any different, really, from when I squeal about cute animals. And you should recall that the whole thing with Alder _started _when I thought he made me sound romantic in that article when he described the way I looked at _you_. It all comes from you anyway. From my thoughts of you."

Severus sighed, "Perhaps, though it is convoluted. But… there is something that _you _must understand. When you squeal about cute animals it is different. I can be a part of that; share it with you. Each moment that you think of another man is a moment that we _don't _have together. And a moment lost will always be a moment lost. Even if we have infinite time, I still don't want to lose any moment that I could potentially share with you. Because those moments are my most meaningful."

"Oh Sev," Dinah murmured, her cheeks flaming and her chest fluttering as she managed a shy smile at her precious husband, "That's one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me. I'm completely spoiled, being married to a man as wonderful as you."

He chuckled, "Now, there is something I never expected a woman to say to me."

"Well, get used to it," she decided, tapping her finger lightly on his nose, "As a matter of fact, how long _is _it going to take you to really get used to the fact that I love you this much?" she spread her arms wide to indicate.

He raised an eyebrow, "Is that a quantifiable amount?"

"Oh, hush!" she laughed, lowering hear arms to wrap them around his waist again, "And I don't think it even has to be a quantifiable amount. After all, my love for you is so much that it's indescribable. Greater than infinite."

Severus's gaze softened again, but he offered her a little grin, "That is most certainly not quantifiable. But I like it that way."

She smiled, nodding, "I love you."

"As I love you," he agreed, pulling her close.

"Mm," she sighed, shifting to settle on his lap and meet his gaze, "How about this? From now on, every time I want to talk about another man that I find attractive, like Alder or on the telly or some such, I hug and kiss _you _at the same time?"

He chuckled, "Perhaps that would work. But we do not need to talk about them right _now_, do we?"

"No," she murmured, feeling her own eyes soften as she returned his smile and leaned in for a kiss, "Not now."

* * *

><p>"George is getting married. How weird is that?" Lucy mused as she and Sirius took their seats for the ceremony, "And he's the first one, after Bill. I would have put money on Percy being next."<p>

"It's nearly as weird as Sirius getting married," Tonks said, sliding into the row in front of them before turning around and snatching Owen, "Now, give me my godson."

"I didn't think it was _that_ weird," Lucy countered, releasing her son.

"Of course not. You were the one marrying him. I'd have worried if you did think it was strange."

Tonks didn't get to spend long cuddling Owen when the Weasleys who weren't in the wedding came over to take their seats. Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur were truly in their element, cooing over the little boy who was more or less their first grandson. Both she and Sirius were anxious to introduce Owen to Charlie and Harry, neither of whom had meet the baby yet. That would have to wait at least until after the ceremony though as both men were in the wedding party.

George entered the tent set up in the Weasley's backyard, looking rather pleased with himself and wearing a dark purple suit and a bright yellow tie. Fred, the best man, was wearing a green suit with a yellow tie and the rest of the groomsmen wore bright blue suits and yellow ties.

Soon after, the bridesmaids came walking down the aisle dressed in knee-length, flowy dresses that matched the color of the groomsmen's ties. Then the gentle music that had been playing in the background changed and Angelina appeared, on her father's arm. She wore a beautiful tea-length dress that had some lace on the bodice and flared out a bit in the skirt. The blush pink color of the dress was gorgeous against Angelina's skin and went well with the non-traditional tone of the ceremony but was still very bride-like.

Lucy doubted Aunt Mildred would approve.

The ceremony was beautiful though, just as traditional as any other wizard wedding, with the exception of the bridal party's attire. It wasn't until after the reception started that they got a chance to socialize though.

"Now, where's your godson gotten too?" Lucy asked. Charlie was off attending to some groomsmen duties that they were probably better off not knowing about and Lucy was anxious to show off her baby to at least one close family member who hadn't met him yet.

"I thought I saw him yank Ginny back around the corner over there," Sirius said, pointing to the back of the Burrow, "and Ron definitely dragged Hermione into the house."

"Should we interrupt them do you think?"

"Definitely," he nodded, "They've interrupted us often enough."

Lucy held her son securely against her shoulder as the three of them snuck around the house to be devious and put a stop to the younger couple's antics. Using his wand, Sirius tossed a few small pebbles at them, hitting both of them in the arms, Harry's back, and his legs.

"Bloody hell, Ron. You're such a…" Ginny laughed a little and blushed when she spied Lucy and Sirius standing not too far away, "Oh. Sorry."

"We thought Harry might like to meet his little brother," Lucy grinned.

"See?" Ginny said as Lucy handed Owen over to Harry, "I told you he was a good baby. He didn't make a peep during the ceremony and he's still just as content as could be. And he takes after his father's looks. There's a little bit of the Prewett side in there though. We just haven't found it yet."

Harry turned to Ginny and smiled, bouncing the baby in his arms a little. "He's heavy."

Lucy had to laugh a little at that as she imagined Harry and Ginny with little ginger-haired, green-eyed babies with glasses. They'd have a happy, devoted little family that was for sure. "Not really. Owen's actually a smaller baby. Especially when you compare him to Maylene. Then again she is nearly a month older so that does make some difference."

"It's bad enough I had to catch him snogging the new Muggle Studies professor…"

"Dinah," Ginny and Lucy supplied together.

"Fine, it was weird enough to catch him snogging _Dinah_, do I have to imagine them… shagging too?"

"No," Lucy laughed while Sirius made some indelicate gagging sounds behind her, "Ignore him. They're friends now. Really," she added at Harry's slightly disbelieving look, "they are. They'll both deny it vehemently but it's true. You know you'll have to come around more now? Oh, I know not at Hogwarts so much with the Snapes and all the rules and such but Hogsmeade and Grimmauld Place during the summer but you're already there so that won't be so much of an issue."

"Yeah. Sure. Of course," Harry agreed, giving her a strange look.

"Lucy, you're babbling again," Ginny teased.

"Oh, hush. I'm allowed to babble. I'm doing a lot on very little sleep. And," she added when Ginny started with a comeback, "I don't want to hear about you teaching. Believe me a baby is much harder than a classroom full of kids. Besides I help you grade."

"Ah ha! There you two are!" Charlie shouted, looking triumphant as he leaped around the corner.

"What's up Charlie?" Lucy asked, trying hard not to laugh. For some reason he looked so disappointed.

"Ron and Hermione said I'd find those two back here snogging. Mum wants everyone seated so we can get dinner served."

Now the disappointment made sense. Charlie had hoped to interrupt some illicit activities. Typical older brother. "So sorry to disappoint you but we broke them up a while ago. Why don't you take Owen from Harry and we can head back to our tables?"

"Hey, buddy," Charlie greeted the baby as he lifted him from Harry's hold, freeing the couple to go on ahead of them, "You gonna grow up and come to Romania to handle some big, scary dragons with me?"

"I would really hope not," Lucy giggled, "but if he does I suppose he'll at least have a good boss and a friendly face looking out for him."

"Married with a baby…" he mused, nodding to acknowledge Lucy's words, "You're all grown up now Luce."

She tilted her head to look at him, raising one eyebrow.

"Okay, so in some ways you grew up a long time ago but not like this, Lucy. The things Henley did…"

"I know," she nodded, heading back to the reception area, "I do better most of the time though. It's not always easy but I have help. Friends and family willing to do nearly anything for me if I just _ask_."

"You always had that Lucy. You just didn't know it. Or you didn't want to believe it," Charlie assured. "It's going to be fun getting to spend a whole week with you three."

"Almost a whole week," Sirius corrected, sounding a little grumpy. Lucy didn't think he relished the idea of residing at the Burrow (at full capacity) for a week, but he didn't like the idea of spending time with Severus much more.

"We're going to spend the last couple days with the Samsons," Lucy said, taking a seat at their designated table. "I talked to Aunt Molly and she's okay with us spending a couple days there. Dinah's parents invited us to spend some time with them. We're staying until next Saturday morning. Besides after a week with all of you it might be nice to go to a less chaotic place and decompress some before school starts back up," she teased.

"Oh, yeah. A house with two newborns and Snape and Sirius under the same roof… sounds real relaxing."

"I think it sounds fun," Lucy smiled, settling Owen down in the bassinet placed by the table, ready to spend the next couple days celebrating with her family.


	80. Chapter 80

Chapter 80

"Aunt Mildred is going to smother him," Sirius grumbled, taking out his wand to apparently put protective spells on the baby.

"Oh, she is not," Lucy laughed, the poor man was becoming very over protective. Of course, she had no room to talk really. "She raised Larry, didn't she? And he's just fine," she reached an arm out to shoo her husband's wand away and knock on the Samson's front door.

"I have my doubts," he mumbled.

Lucy heard a very loud and distinctive shriek of, "They're here!" from inside, and then the door swung open and Dinah beamed out at them like a ray of sunshine, "Come in!"

"Hi!" Lucy squealed, putting one arm around Dinah and whispering conspiratorially in the other woman's ear, "If we don't hurry up and get inside my child is going to be engulfed in some sort of shield charm, I'm sure."

"Hmm?" Dinah wondered, hugging her back and then stepping aside to allow them in before looking over at Sirius, her brow furrowing, "What are you looking around for?"

"Aunt Mildred," he grumbled, "Severus understands."

"He's worried she's going to smother Owen," Lucy giggled, "I don't think that'll happen, unless he means smothering him with affection."

"It's the day before Easter, she's not here yet, thank goodness," Dinah's mum laughed, coming over to greet them with Ed and Severus following close behind. She wrapped Lucy in a hug, "So glad you could make it."

"It was no trouble. Just a simple Apparition. I'm so happy you invited us though. I love my family dearly but my aunt had seven kids and we were all staying in there house, plus significant others. It was getting a bit chaotic. I think next time we might consider pitching a tent in the yard."

"Oh my. Seven? I imagine so," she agreed, nodding with wide eyes.

"And there you have one of the reasons why I choose to avoid them," Severus explained dryly, nodding his greeting to Lucy and Sirius.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "He only had to deal with them one at a time. Okay well two at a time when the twins were in school but really."

"Hmm, well, for Severus's tolerance abilities handling one is probably about the same as handling seven," Dinah teased.

"Fred and George make enough mischief for six people," Sirius said.

"Well, they had to make up for Percy, but he's much better now," Lucy nodded.

"You'll have to tell us all your family stories, but first, is this little Owen?" Ed smiled, nodding at the baby in Sirius's arms.

"Oh!" Dahlia squealed in a Dinah-like manner, looking at him as well.

Lucy felt her grin widen exponentially as Sirius bounced the baby a little in his arms, "Yes, it is. He's had quite the week being fussed over by family, mainly Grandmum Molly and Granddad Arthur."

"Why don't you hold him?" Sirius offered the older couple.

"It's good to know you trust us over my sister," Ed teased, smiling as Dahlia reached to take Owen into her arms and coo down at him.

"Never seen _you_ maul anyone, Ed," Sirius chuckled.

"His eyes are still blue," Lucy said, leaning over Dahlia's shoulder to peer at Owen, "Aunt Molly assures me they still have time to change though. I doubt they'll stay that Weasley blue. Everyone might assume I'm a Weasley but I'm more Prewett than anything."

"Mm, I see a resemblance between you and your Aunt Molly," she smiled, "Your mother was her sister, right? I suppose it's just pleasant coincidence the Prewetts and Weasleys share the same hair color, so it's hard to guess which side you might be from when you're all together. Not this little one, though," she said, stroking Owen's black fuzz of hair.

"They were sisters, yes," Lucy confirmed, "Owen has definitely inherited his father's good looks. From what I can tell that's a family trait though."

"It is not," Sirius denied.

"Oh, come now. Your brother was rather good looking too. I don't know about your father and your mother's portrait is too disagreeable to look at. Even though Bella was as batty as… well she was mad, she was still good-looking as are both her sisters and Tonks."

Dahlia chuckled, "Well, you are _both_ quite good-looking and I see some of you in him as well, Lucy, just not in his hair color." She sighed, smiling down at Owen, "He's beautiful."

"Thank you," Lucy said, "Dinah, have you gotten a look at the _Prophet_ in the last couple days? Adler's article came out."

"Oh, yes," Dinah smiled, "I let Mum and Dad read it, too. It was a long one but I think it painted us wonderfully, as usual. _Except_…" Dinah turned an annoyed look on her husband.

He sighed, "_Yes_, apparently Dinah took quite a bit of offense at the line that stated 'Though they bicker like many couples do, they love each other enough to shower each other with compliments about how attractive they are and how their child takes after both of them'. You know, the bit proceeding the part where he explained that Maylene is clearly our child."

"Well, now the whole world thinks that we bicker," Dinah clipped, "And it's entirely _your_ fault. I'm just _sure_ he only had to put that line in there because you barely smiled for two seconds in that picture."

Severus just heaved another sigh and rolled his eyes while Dinah turned and winked at Lucy and Sirius to show they were just being playful.

"Oh, I thought it was a lovely article and Severus just wouldn't be himself if he'd given a big grin for those pictures," Lucy teased, moving to pat the older man's cheek.

"Hmph," he said, blushing slightly and turning away.

Dinah giggled, "But he _did_ look grouchy. Even more so than usual. But hey, at least it matches your fox picture."

"Oh, yes," Lucy laughed, "Perhaps we can hang them next to each other."

"Shall we go have some tea in the sitting room? I think this little one is a bit tired," Dahlia said, handing Owen over to Ed.

"Yes, of course!" Lucy nodded, "We brought a travel cot for him," she waved her wand and out popped a small cot that settled itself off to the side of the Samson's sitting room. "So… what's Muggle Easter like?"

"Similar to yours as I understand," Dahlia smiled as she and Ed sat down with Owen, "We'll put him in his cot if he falls asleep. Maylene just went down before you arrived so I imagine she won't be up for a while."

Ed chuckled, "Sleeps so well, that one."

"Like her Daddy," Dinah said, laying her head on Severus's shoulder, "And yes, we'll have candy and Easter baskets and a large brunch tomorrow. Ham, potatoes au gratin, salad, and Mum's famous pies for dessert."

"Sounds wonderful!" Lucy said, taking a seat, "Now do you want to see some pictures from the wedding or should we wait for Aunt Mildred? George and Angelina's wedding that is. Oh, don't make that face Severus, you don't have to look."

"Oh, yes he does," Dinah decided, lifting her head but latching onto her husband's arm as she reached across for the pictures, "And he can look at them twice. Today _and_ tomorrow with Aunt Mildred."

"I'm sure she'll be scandalized. It was a bit untraditional even for a wizard wedding… though maybe it was traditional for a Muggle wedding. I've never been to one so I've got nothing to compare it against."

"What about _my_ wedding?" Dinah questioned, "That was technically half Muggle."

"Oh… I suppose it was. I didn't think of it like that," Lucy nodded, "Do Muggles wear purple, green and blue suits to their weddings?"

"Well…" Dinah stopped as she reached the first picture of the groomsmen and broke off with a chuckle, "About as often as wizards do, I should say."

"Not often then," Lucy giggled, "Still… it was fun. Look, there's Charlie and Violetta with Owen."

"Oh, how sweet," Dinah smiled, "They seem quite comfortable with him."

"Charlie's got five younger siblings. He's experienced with babies," Lucy said, as they continued through the pictures. The Burrow was sort of her chaotic home, but this… the Samson's house, was what she had always dreamed of having as a child. A peaceful, loving home where everyone cared about each other.

* * *

><p>The next morning was Easter morning, but that didn't mean either of the new mums got to sleep in. No, both babies insisted on being up early for feeds. Lucy handed Owen to Dahlia, who was sharing the quiet room with the younger two women, to be burped and turned to Dinah.<p>

"Maylene having a growth spurt? She seems awfully hungry."

"Mm? No, I don't think so," Dinah said, considering the still-suckling May and stroking her soft black hair, "She just has a good appetite, that's all."

"I see a certain resemblance forming, don't you?" Dahlia asked Lucy with a wink as she went about burping Owen.

"Just a little one," she winked back, "So… I'm just going to put this out there. Does Severus… enjoy watching you do that?" she asked, blushing.

Dinah looked at her with a raised eyebrow and chuckled, "Maybe a little bit. Does Sirius?"

Lucy made a face and tilted her head back and forth before admitting, "Yeah. It's a little weird. I think it has something to do with being restricted for so long… and I'm practically half naked."

"Ahh," Dinah nodded, "I suppose that makes sense. Severus isn't restricted so he seems to more hang around out of appreciation if anything. I wouldn't say he sits next to me and drools over my cleavage or something," she giggled.

Joining in the giggling, Lucy couldn't resist saying, "Well, Severus isn't part dog like my husband."

"True," Dinah laughed, looking up as the men came in from the kitchen where they were supposed to be making breakfast. That had been Dahlia's idea, for an Easter treat, "How's it coming? I hope the meat has been cooked properly," she said, winking at the disgruntled-looking Sirius and Severus in turn.

"No," Sirius grumbled, "He insists on flipping it too much. The meat never had a chance to warm up."

"At least it will be cooked evenly all the way through," Severus snarled.

Ed shook his head, "Actually, I took over the meat. These two couldn't stop arguing so I felt it was best. Dinah, I think I finally understand firsthand all those stories about why these two never got along," he said, sitting next to Dahlia and patting Owen on the back.

"You should have been around for when they actually didn't get along," Lucy said, waving her wand to clean up Dahlia when Owen finally burped.

"Well, either way, breakfast is served," Ed said, taking Owen from Dahlia and handing him over to Lucy, "Sirius and Severus instead prepared the eggs and toast."

"Excellent," she nodded, waiting for Maylene to finish and Dinah to make herself decent before they all headed into the kitchen. "Is there a certain time we should expect everyone? Are Larry, Rosa and Luke coming too?"

"Well, of course _Larry_ is coming," Dinah teased, sitting down at the table across from her, "He lives with Aunt Mildred and Uncle Winston after all and he's a direct relative. I think Rosa and Luke are going to try to drop by later in the evening after their own family brunch, but they'll let us know for sure this afternoon."

Sirius rolled his eyes and looked at Severus, "Do you think some type of shield charm would work on her?"

"I think you asked that yesterday," Lucy giggled, waving her wand and serving everyone the delectable looking breakfast.

"I did no such thing," he huffed.

"Well, _someone_ mentioned a shield charm for Owen, anyway. Was it you, Lucy?' asked Dinah.

"Maybe," she blushed, "but only in reference to what Sirius was planning to do not because I actually think Owen needs to be protected from Aunt Mildred like that."

"Well, good," Dahlia chuckled, "And now, _before_ you start eating, let's give the little ones their Easter baskets, shall we?" she said, gleefully producing two tiny baskets with a festive green bedding of some sort in the bottom and placing them in front of Dinah and Lucy, who were holding the two babies.

"Oh, look, Sirius!" Lucy squealed, looking into the basket, "Pacifiers, nappies, some toys, and… Aero… Mint," she said the last slowly, the name sounded familiar but she couldn't quite recall what it was.

"Oh, how sweet and how perfect," Dinah enthused, tilting her head to the side as Severus leaned over to kiss behind her ear.

"I hope you like it," Dahlia smiled at Dinah and Severus before turning to address Lucy, "It seems it's a special treat for Dinah and Severus. It's mint chocolate with small bubbles in it…" she sighed, looking back at the affectionate couple, "It's hard to believe only last Easter you were both so small. And now we have a little granddaughter to shower with gifts."

Dinah blushed, nuzzling her husband's neck with her nose, "I think Maylene's still a bit young for the candy. Did you include Jelly Belly beans and white chocolate peanut butter bunnies, too?"

"Oh, there's everything you could ever want in there," Ed chuckled, "But the pacifiers, nappies, and toys are for the babies."

"Thank you," Sirius said, nodding to the older couple.

"What are 'Jelly Belly's?" Lucy asked, pulling out the box and inspecting the contents, "They look like Berttie Bots."

"Oh, you'll love them!" Dinah decided, drawing away from her husband so she could reach across Maylene and her own Easter basket to dig into Lucy's, "I showed Severus last year. They're even better than Bertie Bott's. The flavors aren't as perfectly exact but there are no bad ones, only good. See this red?" she offered one to Lucy, "It is almost certainly strawberry, cherry, or cinnamon. Not… I don't know, _blood_ or something."

"Goodness, how gruesome," Dahlia giggled.

Lucy took the tiny bean and popped it into her mouth, "Mmm! Cherry! Definitely better than earwax, vomit, or bogey."

"Of course!" Dinah beamed, nudging Severus with her elbow, "See, they love them, too."

He chuckled, pecking her on the lips, "One of the few things that is better in the Muggle world than in ours, even I admit."

"What's this?" Lucy asked again, pulling out a bit of the green stuff at the bottom of the basket. It felt strange. More durable than paper surely, but it was thin enough to see through as well.

"Just Easter grass," Dinah told her, handing a little plush fuzzy chick to Maylene so the baby could feel it, "It's a thin plastic."

"It doesn't feel like grass," she said, but continued to play with the Muggle product anyway. "Oh, but thank you, Dahlia. You too, Ed. I like learning about Muggle things and this is proving to be quite the experience."

"It certainly seems so," Dahlia laughed, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out two envelopes, "Oh, I almost forgot. Here are their Easter cards with a bit of money as well. Dinah changed it for us. I know you don't need it but it seemed a nice gesture and only right to give Owen the same thing as Maylene. We… well, we did sign the card from 'Granddad Ed' and 'Grandmum Dahlia'. I hoped Owen might call us that, but of course it's up to you and Sirius," she told Lucy.

"Of course! That's so nice," Lucy smiled, her eyes a bit teary as she turned to her husband, "He has grandparents."

"Don't cry," Sirius said, affectionately kissing the top of her head before turning to the Samsons, "We'll put the money in a smaller vault inside the family one, just for him."

"Oh, I'm glad," Dahlia said, pressing a hand to her chest in relief, "I was a little worried it would be too forward, but Dinah assured me you'd be happy."

"Very happy," Lucy nodded, "Neither one of us has any immediate family so… it's good that Owen will have some."

"Of course," she said, "We're happy to be his family; he's such a little dear. And I imagine we'll be seeing almost as much of him as we do Maylene."

"And the two will become such good friends, they'll be happy to have the same family," Ed added.

"I'm sure," Lucy agreed, picking up a slice of toast. They were just finishing up and cleaning up the breakfast when the doorbell rang.

"Well…" Ed said with a slight smile at the two younger men, "She's arrived."

"Oh, don't tease them," Dahlia giggled, giving her husband's shoulder a playful shove, "Don't mind him," she told Sirius, "He just gets vindictive pleasure when it comes to sicing his sister on people that aren't him."

"I don't blame him really," Lucy teased as they moved into the sitting room and let Ed go greet his sister.

"Oh _my_!" the older woman positively squealed, rushing up to hug Lucy and gush over Owen after giving her brother and sister-in-law very brief greetings, "I was so happy to know you were coming! Is this little Owen? Oh, it must be! My goodness, he is a sweetheart! May I hold him? Oh, Sirius, you mustn't make that face, you look a good deal like Severus that way. By the way, I _do_ hope you intend to turn into that sweet dog again while I'm here, it would just make my day. Would you mind?"

"Here you are," Lucy said, handing the baby to the older woman, "and maybe he'll transform later. I'm sure he and Severus are thrilled to know they look like each other now," she teased.

Ed chuckled, "You should be careful with statements like that, dear sister. You should have seen those two fighting over cooking breakfast. Like a couple of children. Had there been a spatula, they likely would have broken it in two fighting over it. As it was, they were using their wands."

"Uh oh," Lucy gasped, "Wands? They weren't trying to _Levicorpus_ each other, were they?"

"Don't worry," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "As far as I know they were only threatening each other, and no spells were cast. I handled them. Sent them to their separate corners," he winked.

"Oh, good," she laughed, "I think the last thing we need is to have the two of them hung up by their toes."

"I'm sure," he grinned, "But don't worry; I know how to handle children."

"Oh, yes but _you_ never raised a boy," Aunt Mildred clucked, before waggling a finger at Severus and Sirius, "Now, you two simply _must_ behave. No more naughty fighting, do you understand me?" she ordered to their grumbling response.

"They usually do, Aunt Mildred," Lucy assured her, "Would you like to see some pictures of my cousin's wedding? I'm sure Severus would love to look at them again."

Severus heaved a sigh, but it was drowned out by Aunt Mildred's joyful shriek of, "A wedding! Oh, heavens, yes, break out the pictures! I want _all_ of the details!"

"Well," Lucy laughed, taking out the pictures, "This is George and Angelina. George is one of the twins," she explained, as Fred was also in the picture, "He's the one in purple, Fred's the one in green."

"Oh! Well!" she gasped, "My, that is untraditional. Now _you_, Mr. Owen, take heed of what your Great Aunt Mildred says and _never_ have such an untraditional wedding," she told the baby, who was propped on her knee.

"Fred and George are in their own class," Lucy admitted, "Now, that one's of Harry, Ginny, and Owen."

Aunt Mildred gasped, covering a hand with her mouth, "Oh, it's that famous boy from Dinah's wizard papers again. He was at your wedding, too. My, don't he and his girlfriend look right at home with our dear little Owen here."

"Sirius is Harry's godfather and Ginny is George's little sister, but yes, they do. Though I think they're a bit young for kids just yet. He's nineteen, she's eighteen."

"Oh yes, much too young. But they won't be forever," Aunt Mildred decided, her eyes shining with mischief as she bounced Owen a little, "Then it's good that they're getting some practice, wouldn't you agree, Severus?"

"What they do hardly matters to _me_," Severus huffed turning his nose from the pictures.

"Severus doesn't like Harry much, nor the Weasleys… He likes me though," she teased.

"Those words have never left my mouth," Severus denied, blushing.

"Ah, but I think you like her, dear," Aunt Mildred said, patting his hand, "You're more of a softy on the inside than you'd like to admit, I wager."

"You've hit the nail on the head, Aunt Mildred," Dinah giggled, snuggling into her husband's side.

"You don't have to say it out loud," Lucy said, "I know it all the same."

"How sweet," Aunt Mildred smiled, patting Severus's hand again when he started to grumble, only making him grumble more.

"Well now," Dahlia said, "We're going to be having brunch a little later, but we'll be done before the football game comes on."

"Excellent," Uncle Winston said, turning to Sirius, "Have you seen the games before? You may like it, though as I understand it is quite different from your Quidditch."

Larry chuckled, "Uncle Ed has had quite the time getting Severus interested, but you seem like a different sort."

"Can't say I've ever heard of it. I'm guessing they don't fly on broomstick though," Sirius said, going over to stand with the rest of the men.

"No," Uncle Winston said, "Though some of the players are so fast they do seem to just 'fly' across the green."

"I think you'll like it," Ed decided, "I've even got Severus to at least _tolerate_ it, isn't that right, son?" he asked, clapping Severus on the shoulder.

"I try my best, Ed... " he trailed, not looking thrilled with the game but to his credit seeming to go with the flow.

Lucy was glad for this time. Everything with the Board of Governors, Henley, even Rita Skeeter, seemed so distant that she could truly enjoy herself and feel loved by these people who had somehow been willing to become her family. She took a quick swipe at her eyes before saying, "I hope we don't plan on letting the boys cook brunch after that breakfast fiasco?"

"Oh, of course not," Dahlia agreed, "Would you like to help out Mildred, Dinah, and I? We did invite you and Sirius as our guests, so I wouldn't dream of making you work, but I think it might be fun and we'd love to have your personal touch. Add a bit of magic to things," she winked.

"I'd love to help out," Lucy said, "I'll just take Owen and put him down for a nap then I'll be in to help you!"

"Good idea," Dinah said, standing with Maylene as Lucy took Owen from Aunt Mildred, "And I'm sure the babies will wake up before we're done, but that will give the men some time with them."

Lucy followed Dinah into the other room where they'd set up the babies cots, "Are you going to tell me what this surprise you have for Sirius is yet or are you waiting for Rosa and Luke to get here?"

"Oh, it's nothing big, really," Dinah laughed, kissing Maylene's forehead before laying her gently down in her cot and spinning the little mobile that hung above her, "I thought we'd surprise him during dessert. My parents have a surprise for Severus too at that time so it will all work out well."

"How lovely," she said, setting Owen into his cot and starting his own mobile spinning slowly. Apparently he'd fallen asleep somewhere between picking him up and putting him down because he was fast asleep and didn't make the least little protest when she'd set him in the cot.

"I think so. It's something little as well, but I think he'll be happy," Dinah said, "He likes having a family now... he never had that growing up. Not really."

"I know a bit what that's like," Lucy nodded, "Not in quite the same way though. I was just thinking to myself how amazing it was that all these people here had, for some reason, consented to become my family."

Dinah smiled, "I'm glad that makes you happy. They really love you and Sirius and Owen, you know. This has been such a wonderful weekend already, don't you think?"

"Very much so," Lucy nodded, "Though after spending nearly a week at the Burrow I'm almost ready to go back to Hogwarts and get some _rest_."

Dinah giggled, "Well, then I hope Aunt Mildred doesn't tire you out too much. Shall we go back and get started on brunch?"

"Yes, I'm hungry again already if you can believe that," Lucy laughed as she followed Dinah back to the kitchen.


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter 81

"Dahlia, this pie is amazing," Lucy groaned as they ate dessert that evening. Rosa and Luke had shown up earlier in the afternoon and each one of them was cuddling one of the babies. Lucy didn't think they'd let go of the little ones since they'd arrived.

"It's as good as that football game was," Sirius nodded, "I don't know if I'd watch it all the time but it was interesting to try and figure out."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Ed said, chuckling at the look on Severus's face which was obviously _trying_ to be enthusiastic but not doing so well. He looked over at Dahlia, "Is it ready? The poor boy has clearly suffered enough."

She smiled, reaching into the oven to pull out another pie, "It is." She walked over to the table and placed it in front of Severus, "Dinah told me you liked lemon-flavored desserts and so your father-in-law and I decided we wanted to make you something special for today. It is, after all, the anniversary of the date we first met you," she told him, as Dinah smiled and took her husband's arm. Severus just looked very surprised. "It's a lemon crunch pie, very difficult to make, but I hope you enjoy it," Dahlia added.

"I'm sure it'll be much better than that Lemon Lust cake I made for your birthday," Lucy said, laughing.

"I imagine they are... two different things which cannot be compared... " Severus trailed, looking up at his in-laws, still seeming surprised.

"You know," Dinah told her parents, "_Technically_ you first met him the day before Easter, and Easter was on a different date last year anyway."

"Oh, you and your details," Ed chuckled, reaching to ruffle her hair, "We're just glad you found someone as wonderful as Severus to bring home to us."

"I would settle for nothing less and no one else," Dinah assured, smiling and resting her head on Severus's shoulder, "Taste it."

He nodded, using his wand to cut a slice and take a bite, "It is quite delicious," he assured, giving them a small, sincere smile, "And... very much appreciated. Thank you. And... well... " he turned his face down to the pie and muttered, "Thank you for accepting me the way you did, right from the beginning. It has been quite meaningful."

"Of course," Dahlia murmured, wrapping her arms around him while Ed pat him on the shoulder, "You're family now, Severus. That's never going to change."

"Thank you," he managed again, looking back up and giving them another smile, "I do enjoy the pie. Shall I let others have some now?"

"How generous," Dinah giggled, kissing his cheek, "You'd better give _me_ some."

"Save that for later," Lucy said, pretending to cover her eyes, "We can't do things like that in front of babies and parents."

"Oh!" Dinah squeaked, blushing as Severus growled a little, "You _know_ I didn't mean that."

"Certainly not!" Aunt Mildred said with an over-the-top look of being scandalized on her face, "And anyway, let's not taint the sweetness of the previous moment with smut," she said, though her eyes glittered with mischief.

"I would never wish to do such a thing, Aunt Mildred," Lucy assured the older woman.

"Well, I should say not," she agreed, though she was clearly hiding a smile, "And yes, Severus, we are _all_ happy that Dinah brought you into our family. I just can't believe I _missed_ that first day to meet you because we weren't here for Easter last year!" she bemoaned, "And I didn't get to see you two as children at _all_, save for the pictures. Wouldn't we all wish to have that affliction for a time!"

"It's not all it's cracked up to be, Aunt Mildred, trust me," Dinah chuckled, turning to smile at Severus, "It did work out well for us, though."

"Indeed," he murmured, kissing her.

"Oh, how sweet! We _must_ look at those pictures later!" Aunt Mildred gushed, turning to Lucy and Sirius, "How about you two? Do you have pictures of you as children? I want to see them! We can compare to see who Owen looks most like at that stage," she winked.

"Some," Lucy nodded, "not many and none with us. I'll have to dig them out and bring them the next time we visit."

"Oh, how wonderful!" she clapped her hands together, "I'll send you a note so you don't forget."

"That's enough, dear," Uncle Winston said with a slight chuckle, putting a hand over his wife's, "Dinah, you said you had a surprise for around dessert? Perhaps now would be a good time."

"Oh!" Dinah said, taking a bite of the lemon pie Severus had held out to her on his fork and turning a smile and wink to her uncle, "That's a good idea."

"_Now_ can I know what the surprise is?" Lucy asked.

"You know about this surprise?" Sirius questioned.

"Just that there is one. Dinah refused to tell me what it was."

"It's for _you_, too, Sirius," Dinah said, using her wand to conjure a large wrapped gift and float it over to him.

"Thank you…" he said, sounding a bit wary. Slowly he undid the wrapping to uncover a long, slender box inside. "A… wand case?"

"Oh," Dinah laughed, covering her mouth and shaking her head, "No, no, _no_, that would be in such poor taste. Open it up."

He lifted the lid and pulled out a bright red fwooper feather quill.

Lucy couldn't hold it in. She started giggling madly. The gift, along with the look on his face, was just too much to bear in silence.

"What do you think?" Dinah giggled as Severus hid an amused chuckle, "I thought, I'm almost certainly getting one for _my_ birthday and so rather than wait and get you yours in December and having you be the only person without one for so long, we'd just give it to you now. That way you'd end up surprised, too, and I think it worked."

"It did…" he said, still looking a bit stunned, "but I'm not teaching. The rest of you are teaching…"

"Oh," Dinah tilted her head to the side, "I didn't know teaching was a requirement for one, I just thought we were all getting them. Besides, you are _helping_ and you did invade my husband's dungeons much to his chagrin."

"Hmph. Indeed," Severus grumbled, stabbing some pie with his fork.

"That's true…" he agreed, looking up at the other couple, "Thank you. I'll be sure to use it."

"You're welcome," Dinah beamed at him, looking rather pleased with himself.

Severus, on the other hand, looked rather awkward as he gave a nod and an, "Mm."

"Oh, now, Severus it's only a temporary arrangement," Lucy giggled.

He heaved a sigh, "Yes, I know... "

Rosa giggled, "Severus, you're so cute. Now! I think it's time for me to reveal _my_ surprise for this evening," she said, reaching to hand Maylene over to Luke as she stood from her chair. And her husband didn't look unhappy in the least to have _two_ babies on his lap now.

"Oh, you have one too?" Dinah asked.

She grinned, looking like she was about to explode with this news, whatever it was, and beckoned Dinah forward with a finger, "Yes, but I think it's only right that I tell you first. Come here."

Summoned, Dinah walked over and Rosa leaned to whisper something in her ear. Next thing Lucy knew Dinah let out a shriek of joy and flung her arms around her friend as the two women jumped up and down and squealed together.

Finally, Rosa turned her face, flushed with happiness, to the rest of their stumped group, and announced, "I'm pregnant."

"Really?" Lucy asked, jumping up from her seat, "That's amazing! Congratulations!"

"_Thank_ you!" Rosa exclaimed, rushing over to give her a quick hug, "I'm so excited, you have no idea! We have to spend the rest of the night talking about how it is and you two can give me pointers and... and... " she broke off with a little squeak of excitement.

"Of course! Do your best to stay off bed rest because it's horribly boring. Though maybe it's not so bad with Muggle technology, films and stuff."

"Oh, of course, start with the bothersome things," Rosa laughed as she and Luke were hugged and congratulated by the rest of the family, "I think staying in one spot for a long time would be boring no matter _what_ you had to entertain you."

"Sorry," Lucy giggled, "I didn't exactly have the easiest time of it, but I'm sure that's not normal and you'll enjoy every moment of your pregnancy."

"Well, not _every_ moment, " Dinah teased, coming to give her friend another hug.

No, not every moment, Lucy thought, joining in the hug. _This_ is what they had been fighting for the last few years. Friends, family… love. It was good to see things finally going back to the way they always should have been.

* * *

><p>Dinah headed down the Hogwarts corridors after dinner on Monday, in a very good mood as she had been all day. Or really, more for the past week, but hearing Rosa's wonderful news at Easter yesterday had made her especially cheerful. Her friends had been trying for a baby for so long and they had <em>finally <em>done it, so she was more happy for them than she could possibly describe. Her enthusiasm had been infectious in classes, too, where she had co-taught with Hermione rather than just sitting in and showing off Maylene as she had done a few times previously. It was good to start transitioning back so that maybe sometime next month she could take over again full time. And she was glad that even on their first day post-vacation her students had also been cheerful and ready to learn.

And the day was only going to get better!

Severus was following her with Maylene on his shoulder, and they stopped at Lucy and Sirius's door, where Dinah rapped.

"Dinah!" Lucy grinned, opening the door, "How was your first day back? Did you want to come in?"

"Of course!" she grinned, beckoning to her remaining two family members and heading into the foyer, "My first day was great; I sat in with Hermione like I said I would and it was just wonderful, really. Probably because I'm still so happy about Rosa's announcement yesterday. How about you?"

"It was so exciting," Lucy nodded, leading the way into the living room. "Sirius is putting Owen down. I've got an appointment with Poppy tomorrow but other than that nothing much is going on right now."

"Oh, _something _is going on," Dinah teased, then placed her hands squarely on her hips and gave her friend her best 'stern' face, "Lucy. It is _high _time you stopped holding my kitty hostage."

"Oh!" Lucy gasped, "You've come to take piggy? Agrona took Pepper this morning and now you're going to rip the other one from me?" she asked with a dramatic flair.

"Oh, come now!" Dinah played along and tried not to giggle, "You _must _realize that the time has come. Those little ones are _annoying _Dora more than anything at this point, besides."

Lucy laughed, "Oh, yes they are. She's been handling it well. Besides, Snowflake is staying. That reminds me… piggy is going to need an official name you know."

Dinah nodded, "I know. I've told Severus, tonight is the night. We're going home, sitting on our couch with May, and _nobody _is going to sleep or doing... anything _else_," she said with a significant, playful glance at her husband, "Until our little kitty has been named."

"And he looks so pleased at the prospect," Lucy teased, "I hope Godric tolerates this well. They could use some father-son bonding."

"They could," she agreed, smiling, "But I think they'll be good. They're both pretty easygoing individuals. Where is little piggy now?" she asked, glancing around the room and looking so forward to finally bringing her new pet down to the dungeons with her.

"He's probably looking for food in the kitchen if you want to go search for him," Lucy offered.

"Great!" she chirped, so full of energy she practically skipped into the kitchen area, peering around the center counter where she knew the cat dishes were next to the cool box. And, sure enough, there was little piggy stuffing his face. He lifted his little head up and gave her a meow in greeting and Dinah could not help squealing as she leaned over to pick him up and cuddle him against her cheek. She was taking him away from his food, yes, but he would have plenty more food when he got _home _with her.

"Here he is," she beamed at Lucy and Severus when she carried him back into the living area.

"We heard your squeal," her husband informed her with a slight smile.

"Sounds like Dinah's here," Sirius chuckled as he emerged from the nursery.

"Yep, and I've got my kitty, see?" she told him cheerfully, not minding if she was acting a bit childish. Perhaps it was all those pictures from last year they had looked at with Aunt Mildred that had done it."

"Oh, good," he laughed, "One less cat constantly trying to snuggle with me."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "Dora has reverted back to her previous adoration of my husband here and passed on that love to her children."

"Then Severus is in luck," Dinah giggled, patting her husband on the shoulder and making him roll his eyes.

"He sure is," Lucy agreed, "He should thank his lucky stars you didn't pick Pepper. That one is little miss adventure. I still miss her but it's good not to go to sleep worrying that you're going to wake up to a kitten dive-bombing your face."

"I imagine so... " Severus smirked in agreement.

They all sat and chatted for a bit, but soon Dinah just got too anxious to take her cat downstairs with her, and so they bid Lucy and Sirius farewell and carried the little dear down to the dungeons. Dinah cuddled him in her arms as she sat down on the sofa with a relaxed sigh, scratching behind piggy's ears. Her new pet was home.

Her husband's dark silhouette followed, standing above her with the baby before he seated himself next to her, leaning over to kiss her cheek, "Are you happy now?"

"Mm," she smiled at him, "Very much so."

"Then so am I," he assured, his gaze affectionate and making her heart feel warm. She thought back to the pictures at her parents' of them as teenagers, remembered all the way back to the early days of last year. How she had been so infatuated with him after that day he'd rescued her from her misery in the rain. How she'd spent each day, her heart fluttering with excitement for when she'd get to see him next, either at meals or working on potions with Slughorn and Eugene. How they'd slowly built more and more intimate gestures into their relationship. And now he was her husband, and they had a little girl that looked just like both of them, and a new kitty who didn't look like either of them but that was probably just as well.

Smiling again at the amusing thought, she leaned up to kiss him, "Now, what say you we take care of this naming thing once and for all?"

"If it will get us off of this couch, then by all means," he teased her.

"We'll see about that," she teased him right back, lifting the kitten up and holding him so that he could sniff their daughter, who sat on her father's knee with those pretty bright eyes that took in everything around her with the utmost curiosity, "Now, Maylene, this is our _new _kitten. You two are going to have to become good friends, okay?"

The baby made a little gurgling noise and reached a hand out to grasp for the kitten's tail.

Severus chuckled, reaching so she grasped his finger instead of the appendage, "No, dear girl. We must not pull the cat's tail."

"Oh, Severus," Dinah teased her husband, "I didn't know you cared so much about our new kitty's welfare!"

"I do not," he grumbled, scowling a bit, "I am simply trying to prevent our daughter from getting scratched or growing up to anger animals in the future."

"Whatever you say," she said, holding the kitten out to him, "I'll trade you."

"Actually, I would prefer to continue holding the baby if it's all the same to you," he said stone-faced.

"Oh, but it's not all the same," she shook her head, intent on getting that kitten in his arms using any means necessary, "You've already fallen in love with our daughter. It's now time for you to fall in love with our dear little kitty, so you can be the best of friends forever. Take the cat," she pressed, holding the kitten up to his cheek.

"Dinah, stop that," he grunted, tilting his head away, but she only followed. "Fine!" he snapped, handing Maylene over and taking the kitten, settling it onto his lap and absently stroking its soft fur.

"See?" Dinah teased, "You're all talk. Besides, you and Godric have a wonderful relationship."

"Except when he wakes us up at ungodly hours by climbing all over us and howling at the ceiling," her husband muttered.

She chuckled, "'Ungodly hours' being the time when normal people are waking up." Her husband had a certain fondness for sleep.

"Oh, silence!" he chastised, "Now, you _did _intend to give this cat a name, correct?" He smirked, "Your other pets, save Slinky, are all named after the Hogwarts founders. There are no other founders left, but perhaps you would like to name this one after other faculty or historical figures? Filius? Horace? Merlin? Perhaps Phineas? Ah, I know. Limebert."

"Oh, will you stop?" she exclaimed, shoving him playfully and unable to stop giggling at his lunacy. "I am _not _naming this kitten _Limebert_. Or Horace. Or Vulpus or any of those other names you mentioned."

"I never mentioned Vulpus."

"S-sorry," she managed through her laughter, lifting Maylene up so she could meet the baby's gaze, "Your Daddy is a nut, Maylene. You remember that."

Severus laughed, "Well, you must pick _something_, mustn't you? Because I do _not _intend to stay on this couch all evening. At least, not clothed."

Dinah bit her lip to stave off her laughter and blushed. She ought to threaten him with a lack of intimacy more often. It made things fun. "Well... all right. Now think of something serious. No more nutty former headmaster names."

"Surely you don't want to name him Sirius?"

"Certainly not, and don't call me Shirley."

"I- what?"

She burst into laughter again, "I'm sorry! You just got me started into this nuttiness and it seemed appropriate the way things were going. Next you're going to be telling me who's on first."

"I'm... wait, these are _Muggle _references, aren't they?" he managed, his gaze a perfect combination of confused and perplexed.

"Mmhm," she couldn't say more than that as she clutched her stomach with laughter, "Sorry," she apologized again, pressing her forehead into his shoulder, "But this is fun, isn't it?"

"Mm, I suppose," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around her, "But we still have no cat name."

"No, we don't... well, _you _were a headmaster, you know. We could name him Severus," she teased, tilting her head up to kiss his lips.

"I think that might get a bit confusing, don't you? Besides, I only want you to call _me _Severus... " he murmured, stroking his fingers along her jawbone and making her face burst into flame again.

"Severus... " she rewarded him, leaning up to rub her nose against his, when an idea hit her, "You know... we _could _name him Albus! Honor Dumbledore! Though that's not really a cat-like name, is it?"

"No, not really... " he frowned, thoughtful and finally taking this seriously.

"Hmm," she sighed, settling back on the couch and resting against her husband, looking from the cat to Maylene. Their daughter's eyes were _on _the cat again, too. Bright with interest as she watched his tail flip around. "I think we have a troublemaker on our hands," she cooed, reaching to tickle Maylene under the chin and getting a heartwarming little baby smile in return.

Severus gave a little, rumbling laugh, resting his forehead against Dinah's, "I _told _you we have to stop her from bothering animals."

"She'll be fine," Dinah smiled, "She'll be around them enough, anyway. Now how can we honor Dumbledore without naming this cat Albus? Dumbledore is too much of a mouthful, too... I just wish he was still with us, you know?" she trailed, her thoughts changing from cheerful to pensive as she recalled the man that had helped them so much and been such a good friend and mentor throughout both her and her husband's lives.

"I know," he murmured agreement, "His life was cut off too soon. Both his and Grindelwald's... but that is why we promised to live for them, is it not? For Albus and Gellert?"

"Gellert... " Dinah trailed, something tugging at the back of her mind, "Gellert's a sort of cat-like name. And Gellert gave us our youthening, helped us just as much as Albus did... although it took us some time to realize it."

"True... "

"You'd probably rather I name him Gellert in that case instead of Eugene or Evgeni," she teased, getting the predicted scowl in return.

"Let us get back to honoring Dumbledore and refrain from discussing that insufferable Wilkins," he growled.

"Oh, all right, all right. Now, relax, I'm not trying to upset you. Not much anyway," she giggled, leaning up to kiss his cheek and soften him up when he glared at her. It worked well enough. She was lucky she could perform that type of magic on her darling husband. "Hey, what if we combined their names together? Alb... ert... " That did it. She doubled over in laughter again, "Albert! I don't think we want to name the kitten Albert!"

Severus shook his head, laughing, "No, I should say not. It's not much better than Albus. Gelbus?" he offered, his lip twitching in amusement at the sound of it.

She giggled, "Gelbus... Well... y'know... " her laughter stopped, she took a moment to seriously consider the name, reaching across into her husband's lap to scratch the kitty on his head, "Gelbus," she tried, "Gel. You know, I kind of like it."

"Gel?" Severus repeated, as the kitten began to purr and rub his soft little head against Dinah's hand, "A nickname?"

"Yes, Gelbus and then Gel. See? He likes it!"

"Well, I don't know that that's really true. His current affection is likely only a coincidence, but... " he chuckled when she frowned at him, reaching to stroke her cheek, "Smile. I am only being logical. Besides, if _you _like it then Gelbus it is."

Dinah did manage a smile at her husband's soft encouragement, reaching to place her hand over his wrist and stroke her fingers along his skin, "I like it. And you seem to like it, as well. That way... well, we honor _both _of them and the relationship that they had. We honor love. That _is _our miracle after all, isn't it?"

His dark eyes went soft and he gave her that special smile that was all her own, making her heart flutter, "It is, my angel. Yes. In that case, Gel is perfect."

"Gelbus," she corrected, snuggling into his arms, squishing Maylene and the kitten between them, "Gel is for short."

"Isn't it the same difference?" he asked, encircling them all with his bat-like robes. It was sort of like a blanket, making her all cozy and content.

"Not technically," she murmured, giggling as little Gelbus squirmed his way up between their necks and began purring and nuzzling them both, narrowly escaping Maylene's hands which were batting at his tail again.

Severus chuckled, "We have quite the little family group here, don't we?"

"It is perfect," she decided, meeting his gaze and touching their noses together, "Just perfect."

He sighed, smiling and leaning in to kiss her, "I couldn't agree with you more."


	82. Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Lucy and Sirius sat in Minerva's office. They had dropped off Owen with the Snapes and now Lucy couldn't stop fidgeting. She doubted this could be good news. It was bound to be bad. Everything had been going so well lately and she knew better than to think it would last.

"Stop," Sirius murmured, putting a hand on her knee.

"This is going to be bad, I know it. I knew everything was going to explode at once. I knew it."

"Well…" Minerva said, walking into her office, "this isn't good. The Board has demanded a meeting. Next week."

"But why?" Lucy asked, alarmed, "Alder's article was good! No one's… nothing bad has been going on I've been completely normal all year, aside from pregnancy related issues and I'm not even _teaching_ right now."

"I know," Minerva nodded in understanding, her face sympathetic. She had wanted to hold them off as much as they had. "However, the Board feels that since you are no longer at risk of miscarrying the baby and are, apparently, comfortable enough to share intimate details of your life with the public, it should not be an issue for them to hold a public meeting discussing your past mental state and your… suitability to be teaching at this institution."

"I'm not sharing intimate details of my life!" she protested, "The Animagus thing is public record, Owen's picture was bound to be taken and published because of that idiot Skeeter woman…"

"Previous articles have alluded to…" Minerva started.

Lucy interrupted, knowing where that was going, "But that was in response to accusations already made! They can't possibly try and say that I was revealing _those_ intimate things for my own sick pleasure."

"Lucy," Sirius said, placing a calming hand on her back, "We knew we couldn't put this off forever."

"I… I know, but… Public?"

"Though I detest even having to be a part of such a ridiculous meeting," Minerva said, "public might not be such a bad thing. Dinah and Severus could be there. The Lupins. The Weasleys. All allies. All on your side."

"All people who've seen, who know. They've seen my worst," she said, tears coming, unbidden, to her eyes, "They've seen just how broken I can be and… words have a way of being twisted."

"What about Potter? People listen to him now. He helped Dinah last year. He likes you," Minerva said.

"His words can be twisted too," Lucy muttered.

"I think we're in a fatalist mood, Minerva," Sirius sighed, "I'm afraid nothing either of us can say will convince her this is anything but impending doom."

"Something must be able to get through to her," the Headmistress huffed.

"Last time Dinah yelled at her and both of them ended up in the hospital wing," Sirius said, "Normally I just wait her out."

Minerva sighed and stared into Lucy's eyes, "Whether this turns out to be the catastrophe you envision or not is irrelevant. The time for the hearing has already been set. Saturday, May 6th, at eleven o'clock in the morning." Again the older woman sighed, looking rather sad, "I don't wish to put you through this. Please don't think I do, but if it must be done it's best we do it quickly so we can deal with the outcome."

"Minerva's right, Lu," Sirius said, "Whatever happens, we'll find a way to figure it out. None of our friends are going to suddenly disappear and… neither am I. Right now I think we should go pick up our son, maybe spend a little time with our friends, go home, put Owen to bed, and spend the rest of the night forgetting about what's to come," he said, tucking some hair behind her ear, "Okay?"

Lucy turned to look at her husband, a small smile creeping across her lips. She knew what he was referring to. After getting the go ahead from Poppy, they'd spent a good few hours last night engaging in activities they'd been denied for so long. Doing the same tonight _would_ be an enjoyable way to work off her stress. "Okay," she nodded.

With little discussion and hardly a good evening to Minerva, Sirius led her out of the office and down to the dungeons. It was a much cooler part of the castle and it turned Lucy's thoughts away from meetings and disaster to worry over whether or not she'd dressed her baby warm enough.

* * *

><p>Sirius knocked on the dungeon door leading into Severus's office, keeping his arm around his wife. He wondered how long she would stay in this semi-happy mood. Her concerns were valid, but for a Ravenclaw she certainly did seem to get pretty illogical at times. Did he, personally, have concerns about her mental stability? No, not at all. Did he occasionally worry about her emotional state? Yes, but in the last year that had changed by leaps and bounds. Even if she couldn't see it herself. Lucy was better. Was she prone to crying, worrying, and occasionally sharing more information than was proper? Sure, but he couldn't point to a time where she'd let anger rule her and what woman didn't have emotional issues now and again?<p>

His wife was no more a danger to her students than Remus had been… as long as he took his potion. Both of them were more a danger to themselves than they were to others and they were each dedicated to doing their best at their jobs, caring for the students, teaching them…

"Hello!" The door opened to reveal a blissfully cheerful-looking Dinah, holding the kitten they had given her with both hands, one to keep its chest propped up so that it was facing them, the other to make its little paw wave to them. _This_ woman, in contrast, was more prone to childlike silliness and squealing.

"Hi," Lucy said, making an obvious effort to be as cheerful as her friend. She reached out a hand to shake the kitten's paw, "I assume you have a name by now? We didn't have a chance to ask earlier."

"Gel!" Dinah said, drawing the door back and stepping aside to let them in, "Well, Gelbus, actually. Can you guess why?"

"Because all pets deserve strange names?" Sirius teased, guiding Lucy in ahead of him.

"Oh, you!" Dinah huffed, placing her hands on her hips. "Lucy! Guess!" she ordered his wife.

Severus sighed, looking up from the couch where he sat with a large tome and the children sleeping in their bassinets next to him, "Please do not mind her. She has been like this ever since... " he trailed off, returning his face to his book, his ears turning slightly pink at the ends.

"Since you abandoned the children to hide in your bedroom to… organize the clothes?" Sirius couldn't resist saying.

Severus growled at his _faux pas_ while Dinah just giggled, "Something like that, anyway," she said, "But I think the children were much happier in the nursery sleeping."

"Kept them from being scared anyway," Sirius smirked.

Dinah just gave a good-natured roll of her eyes and reached in to lift up the sleeping Owen, wrapped tight in a little blanket, and hand him to Lucy after putting the kitten down. He leapt from the couch and hurried over to his food dish, living up to his prior 'piggy' nickname. "They slept most of the time, actually, which is just as well. Maylene seems to have developed a keen interest in Gelbus's tail."

That got Severus to chuckle, lowering his book to give his sleeping daughter an affectionate glance.

"Mmm, rather like her mother," Lucy said, cuddling the boy, "Now, what could Gelbus possibly be from? From a relative of one of the four founders?"

"Oh, does _everyone_ assume I only name my animals after historical figures?" Dinah laughed, "Severus wanted me to name him Limebert."

"It was merely a suggestion," he said lightly, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Limebert?" Sirius was relieved to see his wife laugh at the name, "Piggy would have been better."

She covered a chuckle, "No, Gelbus is a contraction of two names. Gellert and Albus."

"Oh!" Lucy gasped, "That's just lovely!"

"Thank you!" Dinah said proudly, beaming.

Severus chuckled again, "I don't know that it's something to boast about."

"Ah, right," she flushed, "Anyway, we thought it would be a nice and meaningful thing to do."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "A bit like honoring what Regulus did by giving Owen that for his middle name."

"Very true," she agreed, settling down next to her husband and crossing her legs in a more comfortable position, gesturing to the chairs across the way, "Have a seat. How did the meeting with Minerva go?"

"Oh… um…" Lucy hesitated and started pacing the room.

"The Board of Governors is forcing a hearing," Sirius said, taking a seat but keeping a careful watch on Lucy.

"Oh!" Dinah gasped, her hands lifting up at once to cover her mouth.

"See!" Lucy said, pointing towards her friend, "I'm not the only one who thinks this is a catastrophe!"

"Huh... ? I... no, I didn't mean... " Dinah stammered, lowering her hands though her eyes were still wide, "I'm just surprised. I didn't expect... I thought we were staving them off."

"We were," Sirius nodded, "but apparently this last article we did showed that Lucy was willing and able to share 'intimate details' of her life."

"I don't understand," Dinah shook her head, looking more baffled now than anything, while Severus simply listened to the conversation with a frown set firmly on his face.

"Neither did any of us," Sirius admitted, "Something to do with the Animagus thing and the pictures of Owen… Either way they've decided there's no longer a risk of miscarriage and there's no time like the present to get this over with."

"When?" Dinah asked.

"May sixth," Lucy mumbled, "A week from Saturday."

"It's public, so there'd be no problem with you coming," Sirius added on, "Grubbly-Plank or someone could watch the kids. It'd probably be better not to have them there…"

"Public?" Severus finally spoke, "Where are they holding it?"

"I assumed the Great Hall, but maybe not. We never got around to that part of the discussion. _Someone_," he said, rolling his eyes towards Lucy, "Was being a fatalist."

"Oh... " Dinah trailed, turning a concerned gaze to Lucy, but keeping herself in check this time. Probably a lack of pregnancy hormones, "I wouldn't worry. We'll all have a chance to stand up for you, you know. And perhaps... I don't know, but perhaps this is more a publicity stunt than anything. The Board wants to look like they're doing something to address _some_ parents misguided concerns."

"Maybe," Lucy sighed and took a seat, "But words can be twisted around and people take actions at face-value; they don't often look to the circumstances and reasons behind them."

"That's where we're at _now_," Dinah shook her head, "The whole point of the hearing is that you can show them how wrong they are. I don't like it any more than you do, but... well, I meant what I said before. There's no way I'm letting them sack you. Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without you. If they try to sack you, Severus will hex them, won't you, dear?"

"If I must," he sighed, turning back to his book, more just agreeing with his wife than anything else.

"Because you like me, right?" Lucy teased.

Sirius was glad to see it. If she was teasing Severus then she probably wasn't as overcome with anxiety and worry as he'd thought his wife would be.

He made a noise that sounded like, "Mmeh," and continued reading his book.

"I think that was a yes," Lucy squealed.

"How could you tell?" Sirius asked, "I've never heard him be quite so eloquent before."

Dinah giggled while Severus grumbled and buried his long nose deeper; "It's close enough to a 'yes', anyway," she decided, "For Severus."

"I'll get an actual yes out of him one day," she promised, "I don't want to do this, but I'm tired of fighting them. It's not fair to me and… it's just not fair. At least it's not until after your birthday I suppose," she said, nodding to Dinah, "That way we can focus on you and not whatever's happened at this hearing."

"Yes, that's nice," she agreed cautiously, "But I'll have plenty of birthdays. This is a bigger concern."

"Oh, but this is your first one with a baby! I can make a cake and decorate it Muggle-style or use magic if you'd prefer," Lucy said, sounding a bit bubbly.

_Now_ he had a better idea of what was going on. His Lucy was distracting herself with festivities just like during the month leading up to his own birthday.

"Oh, I'm so excited! It's going to be delicious and wonderful, I know!" Dinah was easily distracted by the notion of food as she clapped her hands together, only enabling Lucy with her enthusiasm. Severus, in sharp contrast, lowered the book and turned a frown in the women's direction, but did not say anything. It was probably the result of his experiences with pregnancy hormones that he, like Sirius, could catch on to this dangerous situation so well.

"What flavor would you like? Anything in particular?" Lucy asked, absorbed in her distraction.

Sirius, however, made eye contact with his former rival. Both men knew things weren't quite as peaceful as they seemed.

* * *

><p>"I think Severus is going to take every last point from the next student that comes up to get a peek at Maylene," Sirius chuckled, looking across the staff table to the other couple.<p>

"Then I suppose it's a good thing Minerva and Pomona decided to spell a barrier to stop them from approaching the table for the next hour or so," Lucy grinned.

For her own part she didn't mind the students' curiosities too much, though she did wish they'd have better timing. The clue for the last task of the Tournament would never be revealed if everyone was coming up to coo over the babies.

"If I could please have everyone's attention," Gawain said, standing at his seat near the head of the table. "I'm sure by now our champions have already tried opening their golden eggs to discover the clue. What you may not have realized is that each egg only gives a part of the clue. Ah, makes more sense now, doesn't it?" he grinned as a general murmur swept the crowd, "The individual eggs made little sense on their own. But in the interest of promoting unification and togetherness it was decided that only by uniting the three eggs would our Champions be able to discern the final clue."

As Gawain finished his speech and sat, Minerva stood, "If all three Champions would bring their eggs up to the front and place them in the stands made available."

First Amedeus, then Oceane, then Nikolina placed their eggs on the stands in turn.

"Now," Minerva continued, "would each of you please open your eggs in the order in which you received them."

Oceane cautiously reached out and tapped the top of her egg. Sections of the egg opened like petals on a flower and from the egg emerged a miniature Sphinx.

Once in a position it seemed to prefer the creature opened its tiny mouth and said, "_Some of us came on eight, some four, some two, some none._"

An Acromantula skittered out of Nikolina's egg next. "_We all have a past. All intertwined. Hedges grow tall in places unseen. The way out is the same as ever it was." _Apparently it was a talking spider.

The final egg was Amedeus's as he had placed last in the second task. From within that final prize came a beautiful phoenix, reminiscent of Fawkes. Normally a phoenix's song was very much like a normal bird's, though infinitely more pleasing to the ear. In this case though the song was designed for all to understand. "_Look to the past to find the future. What has been will come again, rising from the ashes of what was once destroyed._"

After the song faded away Gawain stood again, "Well, wasn't that exciting? All the Champions will be able to listen to the clue whenever they want now. Each egg will speak the whole riddle any time it is opened. As always, please do not help the Champions in figuring out the clues to the next task. This concludes this part of the Tournament. Please enjoy the meal and the rest of your day."

"Can you take Owen back to the room?" Lucy asked, "I just want to talk to Dinah… and Severus real quick. You know, about that thing with the Board we discovered?"

"Yeah, sure," Sirius agreed, looking a little disgruntled. There was bad blood there she knew and Sirius was not at all happy about this turn of events but Lucy was desperately hoping this could help her.

As her husband picked up their child and took him back home, Lucy scurried over to where the Snapes were sitting, trying to reach them before they left. She was successful. "Dinah? Severus? Can I… can I talk to you for a minute? I'll be quick."

"Hm? Of course," Dinah said, hoisting Maylene up onto her shoulder, "Everything okay? Should we go somewhere private?"

"Oh, wherever is fine. It's nothing too sensitive," Lucy assured, "I just discovered something the other day and I was hoping you could help me."

"Sure," Dinah agreed, chuckling and using her free hand to pull Severus aside when he snarled at a couple students who were approaching Maylene, scaring them off. Lucy followed them over to the wall.

"Well, Lucius Malfoy is back on the Board of Governors I hear. I _know_ the Malfoys aren't exactly enamored with me or Sirius but.. they like you. I was kind of hoping maybe you could talk to them…"

"They like _Severus_, not me," Dinah protested with a little awkward half smile.

"They are tolerant of you," her husband assured with a light hand on her shoulder; "They will warm up. You know they will. As for speaking with Lucius regarding the Board of Governors, we can _try_... " he trailed, turning to Lucy, "I do not know, at this point, where the line between his relationship with me versus with Sirius is drawn."

"Okay," Lucy nodded, "I understand. Thanks for trying anyway. It can only help, right?"

"Perhaps it will at least give us an inside look at the mindset of the Board," Dinah offered, "But I'm surprised Lucius managed to get back in this soon after the battle and everything that happened in the second war... do you think he's up to his old tricks again?" she turned to her husband.

"One can only hazard guesses, I suppose... " he grimaced, "He certainly hasn't mentioned it in any of his letters; rejoining the Board. But now that we know I intend to find out."

"Good," Lucy nodded again, "Thanks. So… I was thinking a yellow cake for Dinah's birthday."

"No doubt that is her favorite, as is any dessert," Severus teased, straight-faced, only cracking a smile when Dinah elbowed him.

"Oh, I don't know I'm sure I could come up with some strange flavor she wouldn't like," Lucy said, continuing with the teasing.

"You'd have to get pretty creative to manage that," Dinah teased, laughing until Maylene started fussing in her arms; "Oh. We'd better get her back down to the dungeons for bed. We'll send an owl to the Malfoys tonight and let you know just as soon as we hear back from them."

"Okay," she agreed, "Thanks again. I'll see you tomorrow," she promised, heading back to her rooms to settle in for the night as well.


	83. Chapter 83

Chapter 83

The baby was fussing, and so Severus left his potion brewing on the table and headed towards the nursery to get her, leaving Dinah on the sofa as she was busy doing... _something _with those ridiculous Muggle-born surveys, that snake wrapped around her shoulders.

With a raised eyebrow at the sight, he brushed past them to the door to the nursery and pushed it gently open, making his way over to the cot and the small individual inside, just waking from her short post-dinner nap; "Now, hush," he said, smiling down as he reached in to lift the squirming bundle into his arms. Immediately, now that she was freed from her confinements, she calmed down, giving him a little baby smile and looking at him with those bright eyes which seemed to be starting to shift to a shade of grey much like her mother's.

He could see so much of Dinah in their little girl, so much of her mother's beauty. And yet, he could see pieces of himself in her as well. They were both there. Their daughter was truly an extension of both himself and Dinah, a representation of their love. And yet, he also knew that Maylene was swiftly growing into her very own person, an individual who would someday make her own life in the world. That was just as it should be, but, Severus found, he did not think there was any need to rush that part. Not right now.

"Come, my dear. Shall we visit your mother and that infernal snake?" he offered, propping her against his shoulder and heading back into the main room. Shortly after they entered there was a rapping noise on the ceiling. Dinah's owl was here with some form of post.

As he walked past Dinah to open the trap door and receive whatever was being delivered, he heard her hissing to Slinky to go back into his cage. Severus was slowly beginning to recognize certain words and phrases in parseltongue and 'cage' was one which he heard quite frequently. He knew he was right about it when, after taking the letter and sending off the owl, he turned back towards his wife to see that the animal was slithering its way back to its cage on its own. It was, he thought, certainly convenient to have a pet that actually understood you and thus behaved and followed orders. The new cat, on the other hand, was extremely disobedient and never listened to a damn thing, rather ran around like mad and devoured all of the other cat's food.

"Who is it from?" Dinah asked, looking up at him and setting her papers aside.

He glanced down at the front of the envelope he had taken, immediately recognizing the handwriting, "Lucius."

"Oh, that was fast," she approved, standing to come and look at the letter with him, "We only sent out our request last night. What does it say?"

He tilted it so she could see; "He doesn't want to go into detail here, but yes, he is back on the Board of Governors. They suggest we drop in tonight or tomorrow to learn more. The language seems uneasy. It gives me reason to believe he did _not _try to get in using his old 'tricks'." He handed the letter to Dinah.

"Just as you suspected," she agreed, scanning the note. He had confessed to her earlier that he doubted Lucius would try to insert himself into the goings-on at Hogwarts the same way he had during the war, especially since the family had been laying very low just last year as they adjusted to the 'new' post-war world. They had not even contacted Severus until last May.

"Well," she decided, setting it aside, "I think we could make it. Perhaps tonight as there will be more grading to do tomorrow... " she chewed on a fingernail. "They haven't met Maylene yet either."

"Indeed. And I'd have to agree that tonight would be the best time to go. But we should leave quickly so as we are not out too late."

"Ah... how about just you and Maylene go?" she spread her hands, smiling but clearly uneasy and not entirely joking.

"Now, now, you must be brave," he offered, smiling to put her at ease and holding their daughter out, "Like Maylene." The baby seemed to understand that she was an assistant in this effort and gurgled, reaching her hand out toward her mother.

"Oh... " Dinah smiled, reaching to let May grasp her finger. She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, "All right."

He moved to nuzzle his cheek against her hair. "Good. It will be fine, you'll see. Besides, you are much more... boisterous in your defense of Lucy than I could ever be."

She chuckled, turning her gaze up to meet his, "Only because you lack proper enthusiasm and passion for most day-to-day activities. Outside of the bedroom, that is," she teased, lowering her eyelids.

Severus felt his face heat a bit, but smiled, "I must please you then." He already knew it was true. Their lovemaking sessions were... there were just no words. He was ridiculously lucky.

"Always," she assured, before sighing again, "All right. Shall we go?"

"We shall," he agreed, returning Maylene to a more easily-supported position on his shoulder and leading his family out of the dungeons towards the Hogwarts exit.

* * *

><p>Severus rapped on the Malfoy's door using the large knocker and turned to look at his wife. She had taken Maylene into her arms and was shifting uneasily from one foot to another. This was only her third visit here, and it was true that the Malfoys were only slightly warmed up to her at this point. But they were certainly more accepting of her than Severus would have ever expected them to be, the way he had known them for so many years. It gave him confidence that the relationship would continue to improve. But it did not make Dinah any less uneasy at this time.<p>

He reached an arm around her and she snuggled immediately into his side, obviously finding his presence comforting. The door opened, revealing Daisy the house elf; "Ah, Master and Mistress Snape," she said, her ear twitching; "Daisy's family is expecting you."

Severus looked at Dinah as they followed the elf into the foyer and recognized the look of sympathy on his wife's face as she watched their guide. The house elf was not as mistreated as those that the Malfoys had owned in the past, but she was certainly neglected more than was proper. Hogwarts had the best treatment of house elves. Of course, Dinah and the Granger girl had even stronger opinions about proper treatment but Severus himself had never worried over such details. Given the many challenges his life had presented for the past eighteen years, concern over elfish welfare would have been ridiculously superfluous. But with Dinah as his wife, he knew his awareness would only begin to increase. It was a small price to pay, though, for the companionship of his beloved.

They were received in the parlor, where Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco awaited, standing from their quiet evening activities to come and greet them. As per usual, their first greetings were for Severus and then they gave brief nods as they addressed Dinah only by her name. She nodded back and returned the greetings in kind, still appearing uneasy to Severus's trained eye but whether the Malfoys noticed or not, he doubted they cared. It did irritate him, he would not lie. After all, he wanted his wife to have full acceptance in the presence of these friends of theirs. But he must have patience.

"And this must be young Maylene," Lucius approved, his usual haughty demeanor cracking a bit as he managed a smile at their daughter.

"Yes," Severus was pleased that the girl, at least, seemed to meet with their approval.

"Oh, she's just beautiful!" Narcissa smiled, coming to stand in front of Dinah next to her husband.

"Thank you," Dinah smiled, flushing with pleasure at the compliment.

"May I hold her?" the other woman asked.

"Of course," Dinah politely handed their baby across to Narcissa's arms.

"How sweet," she cooed, allowing Maylene to grasp her finger as she cradled her in her arms. She looked back up at Dinah, "Does she sleep through the night?"

"Yes," Dinah agreed, seeming to follow Narcissa and Maylene over to one of the sofas without even thinking about it. They both settled down next to each other to watch the baby; "She's been so good. It's been wonderful not to have too many long nights with a lot of wakings."

"Oh, I'm sure! Now I'm envious. Draco could be such trouble," Narcissa laughed, and Dinah managed to do so as well.

Severus smiled, pleasure and approval rising in his chest. So the women were bonding as mothers, then. This was very positive, and, he supposed, quite understandable, now that he was familiarizing himself with the way mothers behaved.

"You must be very proud," Lucius told Severus, turning back from where he had also been smiling at the wives. But he, of course, could not keep his perfect record, "I assume she has shown magical talent by now, then?"

"Yes, certainly," Severus agreed, trying to keep his irritation to a minimum, "There have been many instances of involuntary magic on her part. She has all the potential to become a very talented witch when she grows." With Dinah as his wife, he would not even have minded a squib child, but there was no sense in telling Lucius that. As it was, May's status as a young witch _did _please him, but he certainly would not have loved her any less nor blamed Dinah if she had proven to be without magic or in possession of minimum talent.

"Excellent," he smiled.

"I am _more _interested," Severus said, trying to divert the subject to other matters, especially as they had come here for a reason; "In this re-appointment of yourself to the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Shall we discuss that?"

"Oh," Lucius said with barely-concealed discomfort. He exchanged a brief glance with Narcissa and then nodded, seating himself on a chair across the way, while Severus wandered to stand next to the sofa near his wife; "Very well. Yes, as my letter stated, I am back on the Board of Governors, by _their _request."

"_Their _request?" Dinah voiced Severus's surprise before he could, her eyes wide. But she quickly backed off, seeming to realize she had been too direct, and lowered her eyelids with a timid murmur of, "Oh, excuse me."

"Hmph," Lucius snorted, "Please, do not hide your surprise." His tone was a mixture of sarcasm and sincerity, but there was no warning in it. Dinah was safer than she sometimes assumed around these two. She simply needed to learn from experience.

Severus placed a firm, reassuring hand on his wife's shoulder as Lucius continued; "We were _all _surprised. The Board of Governors may have been naïve enough to allow me to infiltrate them the first time, but they are not so stupid as to be fooled twice now that the entire Wizarding world knows of my history with the Dark Lord. I would not have even tried to re-insert myself; at least not at this early date."

"No, of course not," Narcissa agreed. Draco simply looked awkward and Severus was not without sympathy for the boy. Those years had been some of his most difficult, when it came down to it. Although at the time he had thought it was most convenient to have a father in a position of power over the school.

It was at this time that Maylene gurgled in Narcissa's arms and reached out towards Draco.

Severus nearly laughed, but managed to soften it into his normal half-smile, half-smirk when Draco backed off a little, cautiously, "What does she want?"

"I think perhaps she wants you to hold her," Narcissa smiled at her son, seeming to put him a bit at ease. Draco was still so automatically responsive to his parents' reinforcement, both positive and negative. His independence at school had been largely an act, veiling the truth of his personality at home. No child raised by pureblood elitist parents had as much power and influence as they liked to pretend they did, and when they were given that influence it was always along with all the pressures of 'living up' to their parents' expectations. If Potter had been intelligent enough to figure that out sooner perhaps he and Draco would have had a less volatile relationship while at school.

Dinah's odd look in his direction made Severus realize that he had been sneering at the thought of Potter. He quickly softened it and shook his head to tell her to pay it no mind, he would explain later. Luckily, no one else seemed to have noticed. The last thing he wanted to do was make Draco believe he had some objection to the boy holding his daughter.

"Is it all right?" Draco hesitated, turning to look at Dinah, "I've never held a baby before."

"Of course," Dinah encouraged with a friendly smile, "If you want to, that is. I won't force you to hold her if you'd rather not."

"I'll try... " he decided, reaching his hands out to take the baby from his mother's arms, his expression a bit awkward as he held her in a sitting position on his lap, his arms wrapped around her front in a strange hold but not one that would hurt her. He cracked a smile, "This isn't so bad. She's pretty cute."

"Thank you," Dinah smiled, displaying more easy warmth to the boy than she did to his parents, who were exchanging smiles, "I think she likes you."

He chuckled, loosening up further, turning Maylene a bit and leaning forward so he could smile directly at her, at the same time adjusting her into an easier, more natural position in the crook of his right arm, "If only Astoria could see me now."

"Hmm, yes, perhaps she would be filled with ideas of her own," Lucius said, looking pleased at the thought of marrying his son off to a worthy woman and producing a bunch of perfect, pureblood grandchildren. Severus had to suppress another sneer.

Draco gave a little cough and cleared his throat, clearly not ready for such things yet, and shifted Maylene around a bit more, letting her grasp his finger, "Hi," he told her, "So you're Professor Snape's kid, huh?" She made a little noise that seemed to encourage him, but both Severus and Dinah recognized it as something else. It was too late, though. As soon as he had lifted her to readjust her position she spit up.

"Uh... " he stammered, freezing with her held in the air facing him, a grimace forming on his face. Severus could not suppress his laugh this time, covering his mouth to muffle it as Dinah giggled as well. He ignored the surprised looks of Narcissa and Lucius at his reaction, for now, and instead continued to watch the amusingly befuddled Draco; "What should I do?" the boy managed.

Dinah smiled and stood, walking over to him and holding her hands out for Maylene, "Here. I'll take her. Sorry about that."

"Er, it's all right," he managed, gladly giving the child back to her mother, "I'm sure it's just... something that babies do."

"Yes," she agreed, settling back into her seat on Narcissa's other side to wipe off Maylene, "But, you know, I really did think this would be one of the hardest parts about having a baby. It is gross, but you do get used to it. There! All clean!" she told their daughter, who smiled in response.

Narcissa chuckled, "You know Severus, I'm still getting used to your new personality."

"It is not a new personality," Severus grumbled, realizing he had been smiling and making his face fall again. And it wasn't one; it was simply a part of him that had been suppressed for far too long.

"Perhaps not," Lucius said, an amused expression on his own face, "But I must admit that I have never seen you quite this happy this consistently before. Not even in your earliest school years when you were still friends with Evans."

"Mm," Severus agreed, "But those years were awkward, even with Lily's presence. It is much easier now that I've found the right woman," he said, tilting Dinah's chin up to look at him, his smile and words making her flush with pleasure.

"Well, I won't argue with your happiness," Lucius decided, and, though perhaps accidental, that comment was quite obviously a jab at Dinah's birth. It made his wife hang her head again and Severus turned a death glare on his friend to make absolutely certain the man knew where he went wrong.

"Ah, yes, well," Lucius cleared his throat, "Back to the subject of my appointment to the Board, then."

"Yes, that would be wise," Severus sneered, brushing away the hair that had fallen to cover his wife's face and encouraging her to lift her head again, which she did; "Do tell us why they wanted you back on."

"It seems that they felt my... _experiences _would help them to understand and work with the students in the school that still came from 'old-school', pureblood, Death Eater-leaning families in the years following the war. And I am the only person of that 'sort' that has prior experience with the Board."

"He was hesitant, but I told him he should do it," Narcissa explained, "After all, he did enjoy his role there before and... well, it _is _a good cause."

"It is... " Dinah agreed, looking impressed but wise enough not to state so in words. Severus understood where she was coming from, though. It was, of course, difficult for Lucius and Narcissa to shift from the 'old' world to this new, post-war world, but they were trying and transforming faster than many other Death Eater families. Mostly because of their traumatic experiences since Lucius fell out of favor with the Dark Lord – Voldemort; Severus was still transitioning himself in shifting to using the name.

Lucius snorted, "It may be a _good cause_, but as I said I do not know how much influence I will have on unrelated affairs. They are keeping me at quite a distance regarding things which do not qualify for my 'expertise'... and your 'Mrs. Black' situation certainly falls into that category. By the way, you should know that in regards to that situation it does not look like the Board plans to be very forgiving," he said, his haughty demeanor returning.

"Oh no... " Dinah murmured, biting her lip, "Please, please help."

Narcissa sighed, shaking her head to indicate either the futility of the situation or the fact that she did not care, Severus could not tell.

"I... I know that they're not your favorite people," Dinah stammered, trying as hard as she could to be bold and make her case, "And that there's a lot of bad blood there, but it's not fair. She didn't... hasn't... . done anything truly wrong. It's unreasonable to sack her for things that happen to anyone, or _could _happen to anyone."

"There is little I can do. I say that not only from bias but because it is the truth," Lucius said, "The Board has been receiving far too many complaints from parents. Only a subset of them, to be sure, but enough of them and enough anger present that, they feel, it would simply be _easier _to remove her from her position than to try and defend her."

"But that's so selfish... " Dinah whispered, tears starting to form in her eyes, "I won't have it. Are you trying to say that there's no hope?"

"I did not say that there was no hope, only that there is little hope, and that there is likely nothing _I _can do to influence the situation. Besides," he smirked, "It is probably best not to have blood traitors teaching at Hogwarts."

"Lucius!" Narcissa chastised.

"Oh... ah... yes... " he stammered, transforming again from the old Lucius to the more timid, uncomfortable one from the past few years, again showing the dichotomy that was now the life of this family. It was no secret that the Malfoys had barely escaped imprisonment in Azkaban for their crimes, but Potter, Severus, and the former headmaster's defenses had given them reprieve from that. They were, after all, no longer Death Eaters. They had given that up when they had chosen their love for each other over their desire for power. Still, changing ones values and adjusting to a transformed society took time. "Either way, I do not imagine I will be very good at defending that family, especially as most of the Wizarding world knows of our 'bad blood', as you say," he told Dinah.

"All the more reason to try... to show you've changed. It may even... help you to get influence in those other areas if they trust you more," she presented logically, her words giving Severus pause for thought. There was something in there that he could use to their advantage, he just couldn't quite place it yet. He pondered as Dinah continued, "I... I don't want to teach at Hogwarts if Lucy isn't there. And what about Maylene and Owen? Do you want our little girl to grow up and not have a friend her own age around during the school year? Think of the children."

"That _would _be unfortunate," Narcissa murmured, reaching over to stroke Maylene's hair and look at Lucius, who sighed, but did not make comment just yet.

"If not for you, you could do it for them. For... for us," Dinah added hesitantly, "Lucy is my friend. She's Severus's friend, too. That should count for something."

"Is that so?" Lucius smirked, turning an amused, challenging glance to Severus, "Is she, indeed, your _friend_, Severus?"

Severus stared. So he was going to be forced to admit this _now_, was he? Infernal circumstance. "Unfortunately," he grumbled assent.

Dinah gave a little laugh, "Oh, I wish I had brought something to record your statement. Lucy would have loved to hear it."

"Thankfully, you have no way of doing so," he smirked, turning to Lucius now that he had worked his plot out in his head, "Dinah's suggestion gave me an idea. Surely there is a more _Slytherin _way of handling this situation? You have tricked the Board before; perhaps you can do it again. Get them to soften towards Lucy's circumstance without them knowing they are being manipulated."

"As I said, they don't quite welcome statements from me on matters in which I am not concerned."

"But they can't, ethically, have you on the Board and deny you input, I'm certain," Dinah decided, perking up after Severus's statement, "You could argue that it is your right. It is, of course, up to them to listen to you, but at the very least if you start defending Lucy and Sirius you might throw them off. In fact, if... if they don't _normally _take stock in what you say, they may end up doing just the opposite. So if you made them think they were planning to sack a 'blood traitor,' that may encourage them to keep her on the staff!" she finished triumphantly.

Lucius's brow furrowed as he considered this, "You give me two choices. One, to defend them, the other to declare them blood traitors? I cannot do both and come across as a sane individual. Besides, if I appear to be sympathetic towards Death Eater ideals in a _personal _way, I may have my position revoked. They are used to my... " he flushed, clearly embarrassed to admit this, but went on, " cautious self. It is the only reason they want me there. They know I have the Death Eater experience, but they also know that I and my family are in a... delicate, transitional state. If they thought I was returning to my old ways in any significant manner... "

"But you have manipulated them before without their knowledge," Severus pointed out, "Do not sell yourself short. You can do it again."

"Yes, and I really wasn't suggesting you be too obvious about it," Dinah clarified, "You can be very subtle. Perhaps shifting your stance back and forth depending on how the Board is leaning at any given moment. You can gauge their reactions and work with them. It could be done quite sneakily. And if you seem to have a shifting stance you may confuse them, which could work in your favor. _Or _you could even talk to _individual _members in private. I am sure each member has their own opinion and you can manipulate them each on a one-on-one level. That way they can never trace anything back to you with absolute certainty. It would just be one man's word against another. Oh, that would be such fun and surely it would work!" she clapped her hands together.

Lucius blinked, taking this in, before turning an amused gaze to Severus, "Forgive my earlier transgression. Your wife does have quite the vindictive side, doesn't she?"

"You have _no _idea," he couldn't help the sly smile that formed as he thought back on some of Dinah's more 'Slytherin' moments.

Dinah gave a little laugh and blushed, "Well, I really don't mean that I want you to use that strategy for everything. Besides, if you go overboard they might catch on, but... it should help Lucy. Please say you'll try."

He smirked, but nodded, "It might be enjoyable the way you present it. Therefore, yes... I will try. But again, I warn you that it may not work and, if it does work, it still does not guarantee a final verdict, merely may push her into a more favorable light. The deciding vote is still going to be the hearing."

"Thank you so much!" Dinah murmured, smiling warmly at Lucius and pressing a relieved hand to her heart. "And as for the hearing, let us take care of that part," she decided, her normal confidence returned, "Lucy will stay on at Hogwarts. I know she will."


	84. Chapter 84

Chapter 84

After a bit more time with the Malfoys and some constant profuse thanking from Dinah for their agreeing to help Lucy, Severus was glad to finally be back at Hogwarts with his wife. They stopped in front of the Blacks' rooms, intending to relay the news quickly as it was getting late and Maylene's eyes were already starting to droop where she rested against her mother's shoulder.

"You know... " Dinah said, stopping her hand before she rapped on the door, "It might be better to keep quiet about the fact that they're leaning towards the negative result right now. I want Lucy to be _confident_, not nervous or upset. She'll need it for the hearing."

"Probably wise," he agreed; "It is not really our information to relay at any rate."

She nodded, satisfied with their decision, before knocking.

"Hello! Hi!" Lucy answered, looking excited and hopeful, "Would you like to come in?"

"Of course!" Dinah beamed, putting on her happiest face as they went inside, "We just came back from the Malfoys. They were very quick in responding to our letter," she explained as Lucy closed the door behind them and Sirius walked over.

"Oh, good!" she sighed, "That's good. Isn't it?"

"I'm sure," Sirius nodded, putting his arm around her and leading them all into the sitting area.

"It is good," Dinah assured, "He was invited onto the Board as a sort of 'voice' for the circumstances of Death Eater-type students, actually, so he wasn't sure if he would have much influence in other affairs. But he's going to try to manipulate them for you. It was the sneakiness which ultimately sold him on the idea. Well, that and Severus admitting you were his friend, "she teased, giving him a lopsided grin.

Severus heaved a sigh, but he had realistically known it would not take long for Dinah to relay that information.

"I knew you liked me!" Lucy squealed, throwing her arms around him.

Damn woman was being affectionate again. He tried not to be too embarrassed, which was difficult, and awkwardly put one arm around her before returning his usual response; "I don't recall ever saying that I didn't."

"But I don't recall you admitting it before either," their friend grinned, giving his cheek a pat.

"I still have not used the word 'like', only 'friend'," he decided, needing to have at least some remaining leverage over this situation. Dinah was positively giggling, which meant he was blushing, of course, because a 'pretty girl' was touching him. Infernal wife. He was simply not used to being on the receiving end of this much affection.

"Oh, it's the same thing," Lucy said, waving him off and going to seat herself in one of the chairs, "Now what other news have you brought?"

"Nothing, really," Dinah admitted, "Only... Lucius_ did_ warn us not to rely too heavily on his manipulation. We still all need to be really on the ball and do our best to present things favorably at the hearing. But I think he's going to really help. He's good at that sort of thing."

"Yes," Lucy nodded, "yes. Of course I didn't expect him to be my sole salvation but any help is good."

"Absolutely," she agreed, then covered a chuckle, "Oh, we did get Draco to hold Maylene. He was doing so well, too, until she spit up."

"Ah, well," Lucy chuckled, "That does happen from time to time."

"It's disgusting… more so when it's not your kid and you're not used to it," Sirius put in.

"Mm, perhaps," Dinah admitted, a sneaky grin forming, "But now _you _have your own kid and are 'getting used to it', right? I think perhaps May needs to spend the night with Owen tonight." She stood and waltzed over to Sirius, holding Maylene out to him. Somehow, the man still had gotten away with not holding their daughter, and Severus agreed with Dinah that that needed to be rectified. Of course, he had not held Owen yet either, not so much because he didn't want to but that the situation had never come up. "Or better yet, we'll trade. She sleeps through the night, you know," Dinah said, holding Maylene out further, "Come now. It's high time this has happened. Besides, Maylene will probably be sad if she gets older and her 'Uncle Sirius' is afraid of her."

"All right," he said, looking a little unsure but still reaching out and taking their daughter in his arms, "You do know Owen _doesn't _sleep through the night though?"

"Of course," Dinah agreed, "But I suppose it's only fair for us to see how the other half lives. Is he in the nursery?"

"Yes," Lucy nodded, looking rather worried, "but I've never spent the night away from him… He needs me, you know? I don't have any bottles prepared and… Oh, it's not that I don't trust you. I do! It's only…"

"Oh," Dinah said, a little sad expression forming, but she shook her head, "No, I understand. We can prepare bottles now; it won't take long. And he was all right when you started to let him sleep alone, right? If you want we'll move the cot back into our bedroom tonight to make sure we hear him. He'll be okay."

"Um… yeah… okay," she nodded, looking a little worried and uncertain but it was nothing more than Lucy's overprotectiveness of her son showing through. "It'll be fine."

"As long as you're sure," Dinah said, "I would never force you. Why don't you go get him so you can explain?"

"I'm sure," Lucy nodded, "It's okay. Now, I'll be right back," she said, getting up and disappearing into the nursery.

"She just worries," Sirius reminded them, "It's nothing to do with either of you. Just with everything going on…"

Severus sighed, debating for a moment on whether to tell Sirius about the Board's leanings but deciding against it. Instead, he merely said, "We are hoping Lucius will get positive results."

"Mmm," Sirius said, not commenting much on their dealings with Lucius and his family.

"Now," Lucy said, carrying Owen and speaking softly to him, "We won't be that far away. Aunt Dinah and Uncle Sev will be there to take care of you and keep you safe. You've got nothing to worry over."

So he was to be 'Uncle Sev' now? It was quite strange, the 'Sev' nickname coming back into use over the past year. With Dinah it was more than fine, but it was strange to hear others call him something only Lily and Dinah ever had. Lucy had done so only once, so far, at the Yule Ball, and he had given her permission. Still, it was strange to hear from the general public. Not disagreeable, simply strange.

"There, see?" Dinah smiled when Lucy handed Owen carefully over to her, "I'm sure he understands. And now, only because it's fair," she carried the baby over and held him out to Severus.

Severus, hoping only for bragging purposes that he showed less reluctance than Sirius, reached to take the other baby into his arms. Owen was lighter than Maylene was, reminding him a bit of a month ago when their own baby was this small. His eyes were open, still a bright blue with no signs of changing, though apparently that was highly variable. His youth in comparison to Maylene was evident.

"I hope you don't mind the Sev thing," Lucy said, her face almost the same red as her hair, "It'll probably be easier for him to say than Severus when he starts speaking so…"

"Mm," he shook his head, unable to keep from smirking at both her intuition and her usual embarrassment, "I do not have a problem with it."

"Okay, good," she smiled, relief evident in her expression.

He sighed, standing with the baby, "In this case, it is probably best that we go. Maylene is falling asleep, so it would be good if you put her down quickly," he decided, moving to where Sirius still held his daughter and placing a hand on her head. He did not mind leaving her here, not really, but was going to offer his input before he left.

Dinah smiled, coming over to lean down and kiss the baby, "Good night, sweet girl. Be good for your Uncle Sirius and Auntie Lucy and we'll see you tomorrow."

"Sweet dreams," Lucy said, briefly touching Owen's small hand, while Sirius nodded to both Dinah and himself.

Severus led his wife out of the Blacks' rooms, leaving their daughter behind and taking the other couple's son with them. Spending a night with another child would certainly be interesting.

* * *

><p>The boy was fussing, Severus knew that much. And he was being loud. In his groggy, sleeping state – or he <em>would <em>be sleeping if the infernal child would consent to shut up – Severus was still able to recognize that it was not Maylene's cry, and his fuzzy brain also registered that they'd taken the other one for the night and put the cot in their rooms again no less. Well, cry the child could, but Severus would not be getting up. If he just lay here in the peaceful dark maybe the noise would go away. Or, it _would _be peaceful if that would just happen.

"Mmph," Dinah rolled over and her arm lightly thwacked him, "Baby's awake."

"How very astute," he snarled, turning his face into the pillow.

"You should get up and get him."

In answer, he lifted his head, took the pillow, and placed it on top, attempting to muffle out both the crying boy and his nagging wife, "Did I not get Maylene the _last _time this happened, which thankfully was ages ago?" Their daughter was a blessing, he decided, sleeping through the night and not making him deal with this constantly.

"I didn't know we were taking turns. Besides, this is supposed to be to get _you _and _Sirius _acquainted with the other's child. I've associated with Owen lots of times."

"I associate with him plenty, I had just never held him before. And I held him just before bed. That should be more than enough for you, you infernal witch; now leave me to sleep."

She heaved a sigh, and the mattress and blankets shifted. Perhaps she was sitting up to go and get the child? No, of course not, that would be too convenient. She was going to continue to nag him. "What am I going to do with you, Mr. 'I Love Sleep'?" she asked him, her volume now indicating that she had leaned over him.

"The _purpose _of the night is for sleep," he growled, "How many times must I tell you this? First you bring in your infernal cat to wake us at ungodly hours and now this child to do even worse." Some part of him knew he had also agreed to this experience and that if they had another child, which they both intended to do, they might not end up so lucky again, but right now all he wanted was this glorious darkness and to go back to sleep in peace.

"Oh, yes, it's all _my _fault," she said sarcastically. Thankfully, she was used to his behavior when woken out of a deep sleep and thus did not take his 'insults' too seriously. She sighed again, "Well, perhaps we should compromise. This _is _supposed to be us getting to see how the other half lives; we'll _both _get up and take care of him."

"That's ridiculous," he managed to snap, though embarrassingly the snap ended in a yawn. Merlin, he was tired. That stupid child whining was making him realize it even more. "Why force the child to waste both of our nights' sleep when it could only waste one of ours instead?"

"That 'one' being me by default?" she asked, and he could hear the smirk in her voice. Why had he trained her to do that? "I don't think so. You don't get a free ticket for sleep just because you're the man or just because you're addicted to it more."

He just growled in response, though the child continued to fuss. Dinah was putting her idealist, anti-gender-bias spin on things again and he was not in the mood. "You know very well that I never said the former." He wasn't going to say the same about the latter. He _did _appreciate his sleep more; that alone was good enough reason for him to keep it. Apparently his wife did not agree.

"Oh, now listen to that poor boy. You can't honestly say it doesn't make you want to just get up and get it over with? Come on. Get up," she encouraged, her hand starting to rub his back. If she thought that was going to stimulate him into waking more, she was sorely mistaken. It was only making him sleepier.

"Mm... " he managed. If only it was just her doing that and the cacophonous crying wasn't tainting the background environment, "He's vindictive just like his mother. I recall _her _doing the same thing to me not too long ago."

"That was... a special circumstance and she didn't do it on purpose either," Dinah sighed, her hand slowing in its motion. Well, that might be true but he still did not want to be reminded of the scenario. A grown woman diving into his bed between himself and Dinah when they were but teenagers, whimpering about a bad dream and a terrible past. It was _not _her fault, but the experience had been awkward and annoying to say the least. At least she had consented to transform into a fox once her mind had cleared but _that _had led to her messing around with his hair _and _his potions all in the same day. The Blacks were just trouble that was all. Too much trouble.

Owen continued to cry.

"Would you _please _get up?" Dinah tried again, "I really do think we should _both _have this experience."

"Mmph. Next time," he decided, moving his hands to better hold the pillow over his head.

"If you do not get up I am going to stick my wand underneath your pillow and shout _Lumos Maxima_," she declared.

That registered. Did the woman want to blind him? He growled and tossed the pillow off so it landed on the floor, hoisting himself up with his arms to glare at her, "You _would _do that, wouldn't you?"

"Yes. I would." She glared right back.

"Fine!" he snarled, gritting his teeth and making a bit of a show out of getting out of bed. He was tired and he was moody and yet he was being forced to do this and was _not _happy about it. And she was going to know and feel bad about it. Unfortunately she only offered him a smug smile of triumph and waltzed over towards the cot, not feeling bad at all. That only angered him further and he stormed over after her, stopping at the edge to stare down at the baby. "I... hope... you're... happy... " he sneered at Owen, reaching over to lift the boy into his arms, intent on shutting him up.

Once removed from his confines, however, the boy's cries shifted into a mix of whimpers and gurgles, and he began to quiet down. Hm. He had simply wished for freedom, perhaps? The little blue eyes blinked up at Severus, who took a moment to ponder the scenario, his fire dwindling down to embers.

"I'll go get him a bottle," Dinah said quietly, disappearing from the bedroom out towards the kitchen.

Severus sighed, hoisting the baby into a more comfortable position against his shoulder as he might with Maylene, but keeping eye contact, "You do realize that your insufferable whining has woken me from a deep, peaceful sleep, do you not?" he asked him.

Owen just made another little baby noise.

"Your 'Uncle Sev' is not pleased," he smirked a little at using the nickname he had been given himself, but it did not sound so bad on his lips.

The small boy cooed and reached a tiny hand to grasp one of the buttons on the sleeve of his nighttime robes.

Severus felt his lips twitch a bit in the opposite direction, his anger gone so quickly it surprised him. Was it possible that this Black child could elicit inside of him the same reactions that Maylene sometimes did? Did Severus actually _like _babies?

The thought was part disturbing and part... intriguing. Even this child that was not his own... But, no. He had, as he told Dinah, spent plenty of time with Owen up until now and, though he had only held him for the first time yesterday, was close to the boy. It was not exactly the same way he felt for Maylene, but it was close. Owen was, as they said, his nephew, if not in blood then in some other way. And he held no malice towards the boy for waking him up in the middle of the night. Though, of course, he would prefer that the boy didn't. Perhaps this was what Lucy and Sirius felt every night when _they _had to wake up and tend to their son's needs.

"Now, do not pull it off," he lightly scolded when the small hand tugged, Severus reached to let Owen grasp his finger instead, "It can be repaired rather easily with magic but why make extra work when we do not need to?"

Owen, of course, did not understand a word he had said, but smiled a little nonetheless, and Severus found himself returning the gesture.

"Here we are," Dinah said, smiling when she saw their position and then offering Owen his bottle, while Severus adjusted the boy's position so that he might more easily drink.

Owen responded instantly to the bottle Dinah kept held before his lips, suckling with the same content little noises Maylene made when drinking, happy to receive his food, and Severus found himself pondering again. This boy was the son of his lifetime rival only just turned friend. What would he have thought ten years ago if he had been told that one day he would... care this much for such a child? He would not have believed it. The notion would have been utterly ridiculous.

"What are you thinking about?" Dinah asked, leaning against his shoulder with a knowing smile.

He realized he had been smiling again, but merely shrugged and responded; "Nothing in particular."

"Liar," she teased, snuggling into his side and closing her eyes; "You love Owen, don't you?"

He only smiled and did not answer her question. Didn't she know that he would be highly displeased if she had the nerve to fall asleep before he did? "It is late," he said, kissing the top of her head, "If he remains calm when we replace him, we should go back to bed."

"Of course," she agreed, giggling, "As it isn't really 'late', but rather the middle of the night, can you think of anything better to do? I didn't expect you to stay awake from now until morning, after all."

"Infernal woman," he teased, laughing with her.

As it was, Owen did fall back asleep once he was returned to his cot, and they both went back to bed, Severus feeling as refreshed as if he _had _just woken up after having gotten enough sleep, which was quite a change from a few minutes ago. He reached to take Dinah tight into his arms and closed his eyes, now only grateful for the life he had now. A life he shared with her and Maylene, as well as any number of infernal pets, 'friends' both old and new, and a 'nephew' who really wasn't so bad after all, even if he _didn't _sleep through the night.

* * *

><p>The baby was awake. Sirius could hear her in the nursery making little noises to herself. In his experience this would soon lead to some full blown screaming. Next to him he could see Lucy, still sleeping. Moving slowly, he got out of bed and replaced the sheets so a draft wouldn't sneak in and give his wife a chill.<p>

He tiptoed through the door that connected their room to the nursery and shut it behind him. Approaching the cot, Sirius looked over the edge to see the little girl staring up at the mobile they had set to slowly spinning around last night. When she caught sight of him though, she gave a small, baby smile and reached out her arms to be picked up.

"Okay, kid," he murmured, hoisting her into his arms. She was heavier than Owen, that was obvious, but that was how it was with babies. They grew at what seemed like exponential speeds. "Are you hungry? Your Mum and Dad left a couple bottles."

She made a few gurgling noises in response.

"Yeah? Well, you have to promise not to wake up your Aunt Lucy," he said, taking the little girl out into the front room, "She didn't sleep very well last night. Now, I assume your parents will be coming to retrieve you soon since your father has office hours first thing. I'm supposed to go to class with Minnie at the same time… Well, maybe your mum will stay here for a bit and you can visit with your cousin."

He prepared a bottle and a cup of coffee for himself before settling down at the table with last night's edition of the _Evening Prophet,_ using a spell to keep the bottle in place for Maylene. He'd wait for Lucy to wake up before he ordered some breakfast.

Sirius had been pleased to note that his wife was relatively sprawled out in the bed. It meant she was relaxed and at ease. It had taken him quite awhile to come up with this theory of his, given that the first couple bits of their relationship had been stressful for all manner of reasons, but it seemed to him that the more worried, stressed, and frightened Lucy was, the more she curled up into a tight little ball in her sleep.

Both he and May were about halfway through their drinks when there was a gentle knock on the door. Standing, he checked that the baby's bottle was still in place before going over and opening the door, "Good morning," he nodded at the Snapes, a bit surprised to see them at this hour. Though it was only about a half an hour until breakfast was to be served in the Great Hall, he noted glancing at the clock.

"Mmph," Severus grunted, looking like he was still half asleep. Dinah appeared tired as well but was smiling, "Hi. Just wanted to make sure everything went okay. You and Maylene seem to be having a nice little morning," she nodded to where her baby was still contentedly drinking.

"Yeah," He nodded, stepping back to let them in, "Lucy's still sleeping. She, uh, had a bit of a rough night and when she finally calmed down it was about the time Owen normally wakes up to eat so… Well, apparently it hurts when you're ready to feed a baby and the baby in question isn't there to feed or isn't interested or whatever so we had to take care of that…"

"Yeah, I know... " Dinah admitted, shifting about and missing his implication, "I'm feeling it now as, you can see, this is about the time May eats. But I can just make more bottles before breakfast. That ought to fix it."

"Really? Because the way we took care of the problem was, I'm sure, more fun for all," he chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows.

Severus scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh!" Dinah flushed, her face red as a tomato, "_Oh_, I see... "

"Anyway…" he said, "I did promise May here that Dinah and Owen might stick around so they can visit. I'll even get Lucy up. Or we can have O go wake her up. I'm sure she'd like that."

"You said she didn't sleep well at first?" Dinah asked, "Because of the Board of Governors, do you think?"

"Maybe a little, but…" he hesitated to tell Dinah this. He didn't want to make her feel bad. "It was the first night she's spent away from the baby and… I hear women get emotional about things like that and Lucy's more expressive than most in that regard."

"Oh... " Dinah's face fell and she hung her head, "I guess this was a stupid idea then, huh? I didn't mean to upset her... "

"No, no," he shook his head, removing the now empty bottle from Maylene's mouth, "It had to happen sometime and she's fine now. She's sprawled out on the bed, taking up the whole thing. It… means she's not stressed," he explained, "Just a theory I have really."

"Ah," she sighed, smiling with relief and pressing a hand to her chest, "That's good. And I'm sure if that's your theory you must be right. You would know her mannerisms the best, after all. I just hope she liked having May around, too. We enjoyed Owen. You'll be glad to know that he interrupted Severus's sleep a great deal," she teased.

"Lucy did warn you," he chuckled, "and May was fine. She went right to sleep and consented to not wail her head off and wake Lu up if I fed her promptly."

"She's good like that," Dinah smiled, coming forward and patting Maylene on the head before offering Owen to Sirius, "But Owen was a joy to have as well. Once you get him fed he calms down quickly. I think he likes being held, too."

"That he does," Sirius agreed, taking his son and offering May back to her mother.

Dinah smiled and took the baby, "We'll stay and keep Lucy and Owen company as you suggest."

"Okay," he nodded, "I'll just go see if I can get her motivated to wake up."


	85. Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Lucy rolled onto her back and cracked her eyes open. It was late. Far later than she normally slept, she knew.

"Are you ready to get up? There's a little boy here ready to say good morning," Sirius cajoled.

"You might act like a child but you're not that little," she said, wiggling an eyebrow.

"Not _that_ kind of good morning," he chuckled, "and I wasn't talking about me either."

She opened her eyes more, awake now, to see Sirius was holding their son in his arms. "Owen!" she squeaked.

"Yes," her husband smiled, "Dinah and Severus are in the living room right now, waiting for you to get up."

"Well, why didn't you wake me sooner? I'll just take a quick shower and be right out."

"All right," he laughed as she jumped out of bed, gathering things, "We'll be waiting."

Lucy couldn't shower and dress quick enough. As soon as she deemed herself decent, she scrambled out into the living room, scooping up her son, before greeting their guests. "Good Morning!"

"Good morning!" Dinah said cheerfully, finishing burping Maylene and readjusting the baby into a sitting position on her knee. The little girl immediately gurgled and reached her hands out for Sirius. "Hmm," Dinah smiled down at her daughter at this interesting development.

Severus's eyebrow went up as he addressed Lucy's husband, "Inexplicably, she seems to like you."

"It's because I'm such a likeable fellow. Right?" Sirius asked, tapping the little girl on the nose.

"Nng!" she smiled.

Dinah giggled, "That must be a yes."

"Of course that's a yes," Lucy insisted, settling in an empty seat, "He and Severus are both likeable peo… Aren't you supposed to be going somewhere?"

"Ah, right. Yes. Better be on my way. Can't be late for the meeting, Minnie will be cross with me if I am," Sirius said, turning to look at Severus, "You coming too or would you rather sit with the girls?"

"I will stay another ten minutes; then I have office hours," he decided.

"Fine," he said, "I'll see you all later."

"I hope I didn't stress you too much with the baby switch," Dinah smiled, "You'll be happy to know Severus and Owen bonded as much as Maylene and Sirius did. I think he's rather fond of your little boy, actually."

Severus snorted, "If you mean despite my lack of sleep, then perhaps."

"Oh, it's okay. I'm beginning to think I have some sort of separation anxiety or something," Lucy admitted, looking down at her baby, "Did you keep Uncle Severus up _all_ night? That's strange because you usually only get up the once… sometimes twice."

"Oh, he just likes to exaggerate. It was only once at night, and then in the morning just a _touch_ earlier than Sev likes to get up."

"Silly boy," she said, making faces at Owen, "I think he just likes to mess with Severus… it's a family trait."

"As long as it's contained within reasonable boundaries, it's fine," Dinah smiled, putting a hand on her husband's knee. "You don't want to be late for your office hours, dear."

He sighed, leaning over to kiss her temple and then the top of Maylene's head, "I suppose not. Though at least the girl is not coming with me; I need to spend _some_ office time without those infernal students clamoring in for no legitimate reason. It is sad that Maylene must be penalized because of their incessant need to 'look' at her."

"I don't think May minds. I think _you're_ the one with the problem," she giggled at his raised eyebrow as he stood, stopping to place a brief hand on Owen's head before leaving the room.

"What no kisses or head pats for me?" Lucy teased, "If he keeps that up I'm libel to think he doesn't like me anymore."

Dinah giggled, "You're lucky he confessed at all. I wonder if _someday_ I'll finally get him to admit that he likes being liked?"

"Maybe," she nodded, "So, what sort of cake… or cakes would you like for your birthday?" she asked, glad to have something to distract her from thoughts of her impending meeting with the Board of Governors.

"Hmm," Dinah leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands with that blissful look she got when she was thinking of food, "How about red velvet? Can you do red velvet?"

"I can try," she nodded, "I've never made it before but it's in those recipes you gave me I know."

"No pressure, of course, but thanks," Dinah beamed, and they spent the rest of the pleasant morning discussing birthday details and keeping Lucy's mind distracted for just a bit longer.

* * *

><p>"Okay," Lucy said, rushing about feeling the pressure of trying to get somewhere on time with an infant, "You've got Owen. I got the cake. Do you have the nappy bag? Is it all packed? We didn't forget anything?"<p>

"I doubt it but if we did I'm sure we can borrow from Maylene and if we can't for whatever reason it's not like we're a long way from home," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Even so," Lucy huffed, flicking her wand at the door as they left, having it lock itself behind them. True even a first year could use _Alohomora_ and unlock their door but it would be good enough for the amount of time they'd be gone.

After a short walk, occasionally interrupted by a student wanting to admire the baby, the Blacks arrived at Severus's office door. Again Lucy used her wand, this time levitating the cake so she could knock on the closed door.

"Come in!" Dinah's voice called, distant so that it seemed to be coming from the living room.

Lucy opened the door and snatched the cake out of the air, "Happy birthday!" she called as they passed through the office and into the living room.

"Happy birthday!" Dinah squealed, bounding over to give them both hugs, "Or well, you know."

"I do," Lucy laughed, holding out the cake, "We brought cake! And a… oh!" she gasped turning to Sirius, "We forgot the present!"

"It's in the bag," he said, pointing, "Happy birthday, Dinah. Is there some place I could lay One down? He can't seem to decide if he's sleepy or not."

"You can put him down with Maylene in her cot," she offered, "That would be so cute."

"All right," he nodded, setting the nappy bag on the floor by one of the seats, "You can take a picture of them after I get this one settled if you want," he grinned.

"That would be lovely," she sighed, then turned to Lucy, "What do you think? Sev keeps teasing me because I'm wearing the same dress as last year, but I think my mismatched ensemble is just the right amount of festive for birthdays," she said, twirling a bit in the blue and green dress with large angular blocks of color Lucy remembered from last year. Accompanying it was the same mismatched jewelry; a snake bracelet, garnet earrings, and topaz-emerald necklace.

"I think you've done it just right. Too much more and people might mistake you for Trelawny."

"Oh, goodness, we wouldn't want _that_," Dinah giggled, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, "As it is Severus thinks the woman is following him."

"It is not my imagination; she is always where I am," her husband grumbled from the sofa.

"She likes you," Lucy said, giggling along with Dinah.

He scowled, "As it seems everyone does these days."

"Oh, careful," Dinah laughed, plopping onto his lap, "You're getting dangerously close to the subject Lucy and I discussed the other day. By the way, the cake looks luscious," she told Lucy, "Shall we eat it right away?"

"Can't even wait for me to come back?" Sirius teased, returning to the group.

"There would be plenty left for you," Dinah insisted, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You didn't want this anyway," Lucy laughed, "Said it had spattergroit."

"It looks fine to _me_," Dinah said, summoning some plates, forks, and knives over from the kitchen.

"I'm sure it tastes fine," Sirius assured, "Besides, I have to eat it remember? It's a rule."

"I don't see how it can have spattergroit when it's all frosted one color," Dinah protested, taking the knife and turning it back and forth in her hands, its smooth metallic surface catching the light, "Um, were you going to put on candles or do you want me to just cut it now?"

"Do you want candles?" Lucy asked, "I brought some just in case, but I wasn't sure…"

"Why weren't you sure? Oh," she giggled, "Because I'm forty?"

"Well… I know it bothers some people," Lucy admitted, blushing.

"It's okay," she assured, "You were coming at it from a thoughtful place. But I do want them, if you brought them. I'm only as old as I act, right?"

"In that case, you must be twelve with that outfit," Severus smirked.

"Oh, shush!"

"I'd say more like twenty," Lucy laughed, using her wand to place candles on the cake.

"Well, that's a bit better," Dinah allowed, a small smile forming on her face. She turned back to her husband, "Besides, you know you find me irresistibly beautiful."

"If only those were words enough," he agreed, a hint of affection in his gaze.

"Oh... " Dinah hid her face and turned back to Lucy, "Hurry up and light those candles before my face burns off."

"I don't think the candles will help that any," she laughed, obeying her friend and lighting the candles while starting to sing 'Happy Birthday'.

The men sang along as well, although Lucy and Dinah had to encourage them and they did so grudgingly as they had last year. Then the birthday girl blew out her candles, taking a couple tries before she could get them all. "There!" she chirped, satisfied when they were out as she picked up one of the candles and licked the frosting from the end, "I do so love being the center of attention."

"You shall be the center of attention enough tonight," Severus smirked.

"Is that a promise?" she elbowed him with another demure blush.

"I... " he paused as his mind processed this and his face went a bit red, "did not mean it in that way. Though, I suppose, yes... "

"Oh, dear," Lucy murmured, covering her blushing cheeks.

"It's your fault," Dinah teased, "Your tendency to reveal too much is rubbing off on him."

"You started it!" he hissed at her.

"No, actually I blame him," Lucy said, pointing at her husband.

"What did I do?"

"You kissed me," she said as if that explained everything.

"And?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"_And_ that led to snogging and the grabbing of my bum in front of him," she said, indicating Severus, "Eventually with a few rather large interruptions that led to my job here, friendship with Dinah, more snogging, and… well… I think we all get the idea."

Dinah giggled, "You're blaming your entire relationship for Severus losing his ability to censor?"

"Seems logical to me," she laughed with her friend, "I think we initially made him… more comfortable, for lack of a better term, with seeing such things."

"For lack of a better term indeed," Severus snorted, rolling his eyes, "Now perhaps we should commence with serving my wife her cake? You do know how she can be about that sort of thing."

"Not really. Could you remind us?" Sirius teased.

"Oh, stop that. I'll remind you soon enough myself if you don't give me my cake," Dinah winked, reaching across and opening and closing her palm, demanding to be fed.

"All right, all right," Lucy grinned, using a spell to cut the cake and serve everyone, "but don't forget about your present." Sirius was already dutifully holding it out for Dinah's to grab.

"Thank you," she smiled, reaching to take it into her hand, using the other to bite into the cake. Her eyes went wide and she gasped, "Mm! Oh! That's delicious! Lucy, you're a genius; you make the _best_ cakes. If you and my Mum opened a cake and pie bake shop you'd be famous!"

"And sell all their wares to _you_," Severus pointed out, reaching to remove a bit of frosting from his wife's nose.

"At least we'll have a steady income," Lucy said.

"I think you're the last person that needs to worry about income," Dinah teased, putting down her plate of cake and her fork, "Now, shall I unwrap my present?"

"Presents," Lucy corrected, reaching into her pocket where she had stored a few more packages with wizards space.

"Oh," she blushed, "Thank you." Opening the first one, she pulled out the bright yellow fwooper quill that finally completed the collection. "You put it in a deceptively different-shaped box this time. How sneaky," she said, sticking the quill into her hair, "Thank you. As Sev would say, it will be very useful."

"And this one has a chance of being used in front of students," Sirius teased.

She nodded, "Lucy's too. It's nice to all have one, isn't it?"

"I do not see why," Severus said, "Each of us having one carries no specific purpose."

"It's purpose is _'fun'_," Dinah decided, making quotes with her fingers.

"That is not a legitimate purpose."

"Oh! Oh!" Lucy exclaimed, raising her hand in the air as if she were a student, "It's purpose is that collectively we represent all the houses of Hogwarts and their cohesiveness and unity," she said with a grin, ignoring her husband's disbelieving look. Dinah would appreciate her words she was sure.

"Oh, how heartwarming! Thank you, Lucy!" She turned her beaming face to Severus, "There! You see?"

"Well, perhaps a sufficient enough purpose for my idealist," he admitted, leaning in to kiss her forehead and remind her, "You have other presents to open."

Lucy pointed to the other gift-boxes they'd brought over, watching as Dinah opened them to find an assortment of spices and a wizarding cookbook. Aunt Molly had recommended the cookbook, had even given Lucy a copy when she'd gotten married, so she was reasonably sure it was a good one.

"Oh, these are wonderful!" Dinah gushed, leaning over to inhale the scent of one of the spices with a dreamy, food-loving expression that seemed to amuse Severus a great deal. Then she stood to come across and hug them both, "Thank you! Such a lovely birthday."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, pulling a game out of her wizard space pocket, "I brought that game Fred and George sent me in case you wanted to play."

"Oh! Yes! That's such fun, the way it squirts stuff at you." She blushed, "Can Severus and I borrow the special soap, tonight, then? So we can play with it?"

"Sure. It's in the box."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable furnishing others with props to use for shower sex," Sirius mustered.

"Oh, it's just soap," Lucy said, rolling her eyes, "Besides, I'm pretty sure there was no sex involved the last time we played this game."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her.

"There wasn't!" she insisted, "Manual stimulation is _not_ sex."

Severus groaned and covered his face with a hand.

Dinah patted his knee, turning her blushing face to Lucy, "Now, there are arguments about that in quite a few socio-political circles. Either way, um... well, weren't you not _allowed_ to have sex the last time we played the game?"

"Exactly," Lucy nodded with a little snort of satisfaction, "I did all the work with very little reward."

"You enjoyed it too," Sirius argued.

"Oh, you think so? We'll just see about that later," she promised.

"I think you're forgetting I taught you everything you know… not everything I know."

"I'm a Ravenclaw. I could logic out most of that stuff out on my own, thank you."

"Perhaps now would be a _lovely_ time to take that photo of the sleeping children we talked about!" Dinah interrupted, smiling brightly, while Severus seemed to have retracted further into his shell of embarrassment.

"Sure," Sirius said, immune to the minor upset they'd caused with their inability to censor themselves, "but I hope you have a camera. That seems to be the one thing we left behind."

"Oh, please, don't even get her started," Severus poked his head out of the proverbial shell now that the subject seemed to have been safely changed.

"I have three Muggle cameras," Dinah explained.

"Why?" Lucy asked, not understanding the need to have three of the same device.

"They're all a little different, and I just kept the older ones when I got newer," she explained, standing with her husband and gesturing for them to follow her. "Plus one is digital."

"What's a digital?"

Dinah grinned, looking back at Lucy as they walked into the Snapes' bedroom, "'What's digital', you mean. It's an adjective, not a noun. It means, basically, that the camera is run electronically by a small computer." She hurried to hers and Severus's closet and grabbed a stool, standing on it to rummage around in some stuff on a shelf near the top.

"Forgive her lack of magical instincts," Severus told them, smirking.

"We're used to it," Sirius shrugged.

"There it is!" completely oblivious for the time being to the fact that she could have simply _Accio_ed it, Dinah hopped down from her stool and brought the large, black Muggle camera over to Lucy, turning it over and flicking a switch, where a little flat, square thing on the back suddenly turned colorful and showed the inside of the room.

"How's it doing that?" Lucy gasped, "Is it a film?"

"It _can_ be; I can make short ones," she bragged, "But mostly it just shows you what the picture will look like. See?" she aimed the camera at the bed and pushed a button. As it made a noise, the little picture froze in place.

"Oh! That's rather convenient for Muggles I'm sure. Getting to see what the photo will look like before you take it. Saves on film. Doesn't seem to be much of an issue with wizarding pictures being that they move and all but it's still rather ingenious," Lucy praised.

Dinah smiled, then put a finger over her lips, "Let's head over to the nursery and take a picture of the babies. If they're cuddled up together we can use it to embarrass them when they're older."

"They'll hate us for sure," Lucy giggled, quietly following Dinah into the nursery. Owen had finally fallen asleep, flat out on his back, little fists up by his ears. Maylene was flopped over onto her stomach to the left of Owen, her small head turned and her nose just touching the backs of his fingers. "Aww. We have adorable children."

"We do," Dinah murmured, snapping a couple of pictures. "Now, if you two can contain yourselves, how about that game?"

"No guarantees," Lucy said, following her friend back out to the living room. She was glad to have had today to relax, have fun, and enjoy her friends and family. There would be enough stress in her life over the next few days, one day's respite felt like heaven and once the meeting with the Board was over everything would be normal again. She hoped.

"Okay," Lucy said, rushing about feeling the pressure of trying to get somewhere on time with an infant, "You've got Owen. I got the cake. Do you have the nappy bag? Is it all packed? We didn't forget anything?"

"I doubt it but if we did I'm sure we can borrow from Maylene and if we can't for whatever reason it's not like we're a long way from home," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Even so," Lucy huffed, flicking her wand at the door as they left, having it lock itself behind them. True even a first year could use _Alohomora_ and unlock their door but it would be good enough for the amount of time they'd be gone.

After a short walk, occasionally interrupted by a student wanting to admire the baby, the Blacks arrived at Severus's office door. Again Lucy used her wand, this time levitating the cake so she could knock on the closed door.

"Come in!" Dinah's voice called, distant so that it seemed to be coming from the living room.

Lucy opened the door and snatched the cake out of the air, "Happy birthday!" she called as they passed through the office and into the living room.

"Happy birthday!" Dinah squealed, bounding over to give them both hugs, "Or well, you know."

"I do," Lucy laughed, holding out the cake, "We brought cake! And a… oh!" she gasped turning to Sirius, "We forgot the present!"

"It's in the bag," he said, pointing, "Happy birthday, Dinah. Is there some place I could lay One down? He can't seem to decide if he's sleepy or not."

"You can put him down with Maylene in her cot," she offered, "That would be so cute."

"All right," he nodded, setting the nappy bag on the floor by one of the seats, "You can take a picture of them after I get this one settled if you want," he grinned.

"That would be lovely," she sighed, then turned to Lucy, "What do you think? Sev keeps teasing me because I'm wearing the same dress as last year, but I think my mismatched ensemble is just the right amount of festive for birthdays," she said, twirling a bit in the blue and green dress with large angular blocks of color Lucy remembered from last year. Accompanying it was the same mismatched jewelry; a snake bracelet, garnet earrings, and topaz-emerald necklace.

"I think you've done it just right. Too much more and people might mistake you for Trelawny."

"Oh, goodness, we wouldn't want _that_," Dinah giggled, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, "As it is Severus thinks the woman is following him."

"It is not my imagination; she is always where I am," her husband grumbled from the sofa.

"She likes you," Lucy said, giggling along with Dinah.

He scowled, "As it seems everyone does these days."

"Oh, careful," Dinah laughed, plopping onto his lap, "You're getting dangerously close to the subject Lucy and I discussed the other day. By the way, the cake looks luscious," she told Lucy, "Shall we eat it right away?"

"Can't even wait for me to come back?" Sirius teased, returning to the group.

"There would be plenty left for you," Dinah insisted, sticking her tongue out at him.

"You didn't want this anyway," Lucy laughed, "Said it had spattergroit."

"It looks fine to _me_," Dinah said, summoning some plates, forks, and knives over from the kitchen.

"I'm sure it tastes fine," Sirius assured, "Besides, I have to eat it remember? It's a rule."

"I don't see how it can have spattergroit when it's all frosted one color," Dinah protested, taking the knife and turning it back and forth in her hands, its smooth metallic surface catching the light, "Um, were you going to put on candles or do you want me to just cut it now?"

"Do you want candles?" Lucy asked, "I brought some just in case, but I wasn't sure…"

"Why weren't you sure? Oh," she giggled, "Because I'm forty?"

"Well… I know it bothers some people," Lucy admitted, blushing.

"It's okay," she assured, "You were coming at it from a thoughtful place. But I do want them, if you brought them. I'm only as old as I act, right?"

"In that case, you must be twelve with that outfit," Severus smirked.

"Oh, shush!"

"I'd say more like twenty," Lucy laughed, using her wand to place candles on the cake.

"Well, that's a bit better," Dinah allowed, a small smile forming on her face. She turned back to her husband, "Besides, you know you find me irresistibly beautiful."

"If only those were words enough," he agreed, a hint of affection in his gaze.

"Oh... " Dinah hid her face and turned back to Lucy, "Hurry up and light those candles before my face burns off."

"I don't think the candles will help that any," she laughed, obeying her friend and lighting the candles while starting to sing 'Happy Birthday'.

The men sang along as well, although Lucy and Dinah had to encourage them and they did so grudgingly as they had last year. Then the birthday girl blew out her candles, taking a couple tries before she could get them all. "There!" she chirped, satisfied when they were out as she picked up one of the candles and licked the frosting from the end, "I do so love being the center of attention."

"You shall be the center of attention enough tonight," Severus smirked.

"Is that a promise?" she elbowed him with another demure blush.

"I... " he paused as his mind processed this and his face went a bit red, "did not mean it in that way. Though, I suppose, yes... "

"Oh, dear," Lucy murmured, covering her blushing cheeks.

"It's your fault," Dinah teased, "Your tendency to reveal too much is rubbing off on him."

"You started it!" he hissed at her.

"No, actually I blame him," Lucy said, pointing at her husband.

"What did I do?"

"You kissed me," she said as if that explained everything.

"And?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"_And_ that led to snogging and the grabbing of my bum in front of him," she said, indicating Severus, "Eventually with a few rather large interruptions that led to my job here, friendship with Dinah, more snogging, and… well… I think we all get the idea."

Dinah giggled, "You're blaming your entire relationship for Severus losing his ability to censor?"

"Seems logical to me," she laughed with her friend, "I think we initially made him… more comfortable, for lack of a better term, with seeing such things."

"For lack of a better term indeed," Severus snorted, rolling his eyes, "Now perhaps we should commence with serving my wife her cake? You do know how she can be about that sort of thing."

"Not really. Could you remind us?" Sirius teased.

"Oh, stop that. I'll remind you soon enough myself if you don't give me my cake," Dinah winked, reaching across and opening and closing her palm, demanding to be fed.

"All right, all right," Lucy grinned, using a spell to cut the cake and serve everyone, "but don't forget about your present." Sirius was already dutifully holding it out for Dinah's to grab.

"Thank you," she smiled, reaching to take it into her hand, using the other to bite into the cake. Her eyes went wide and she gasped, "Mm! Oh! That's delicious! Lucy, you're a genius; you make the _best_ cakes. If you and my Mum opened a cake and pie bake shop you'd be famous!"

"And sell all their wares to _you_," Severus pointed out, reaching to remove a bit of frosting from his wife's nose.

"At least we'll have a steady income," Lucy said.

"I think you're the last person that needs to worry about income," Dinah teased, putting down her plate of cake and her fork, "Now, shall I unwrap my present?"

"Presents," Lucy corrected, reaching into her pocket where she had stored a few more packages with wizards space.

"Oh," she blushed, "Thank you." Opening the first one, she pulled out the bright yellow fwooper quill that finally completed the collection. "You put it in a deceptively different-shaped box this time. How sneaky," she said, sticking the quill into her hair, "Thank you. As Sev would say, it will be very useful."

"And this one has a chance of being used in front of students," Sirius teased.

She nodded, "Lucy's too. It's nice to all have one, isn't it?"

"I do not see why," Severus said, "Each of us having one carries no specific purpose."

"It's purpose is _'fun'_," Dinah decided, making quotes with her fingers.

"That is not a legitimate purpose."

"Oh! Oh!" Lucy exclaimed, raising her hand in the air as if she were a student, "It's purpose is that collectively we represent all the houses of Hogwarts and their cohesiveness and unity," she said with a grin, ignoring her husband's disbelieving look. Dinah would appreciate her words she was sure.

"Oh, how heartwarming! Thank you, Lucy!" She turned her beaming face to Severus, "There! You see?"

"Well, perhaps a sufficient enough purpose for my idealist," he admitted, leaning in to kiss her forehead and remind her, "You have other presents to open."

Lucy pointed to the other gift-boxes they'd brought over, watching as Dinah opened them to find an assortment of spices and a wizarding cookbook. Aunt Molly had recommended the cookbook, had even given Lucy a copy when she'd gotten married, so she was reasonably sure it was a good one.

"Oh, these are wonderful!" Dinah gushed, leaning over to inhale the scent of one of the spices with a dreamy, food-loving expression that seemed to amuse Severus a great deal. Then she stood to come across and hug them both, "Thank you! Such a lovely birthday."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, pulling a game out of her wizard space pocket, "I brought that game Fred and George sent me in case you wanted to play."

"Oh! Yes! That's such fun, the way it squirts stuff at you." She blushed, "Can Severus and I borrow the special soap, tonight, then? So we can play with it?"

"Sure. It's in the box."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable furnishing others with props to use for shower sex," Sirius mustered.

"Oh, it's just soap," Lucy said, rolling her eyes, "Besides, I'm pretty sure there was no sex involved the last time we played this game."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her.

"There wasn't!" she insisted, "Manual stimulation is _not_ sex."

Severus groaned and covered his face with a hand.

Dinah patted his knee, turning her blushing face to Lucy, "Now, there are arguments about that in quite a few socio-political circles. Either way, um... well, weren't you not _allowed_ to have sex the last time we played the game?"

"Exactly," Lucy nodded with a little snort of satisfaction, "I did all the work with very little reward."

"You enjoyed it too," Sirius argued.

"Oh, you think so? We'll just see about that later," she promised.

"I think you're forgetting I taught you everything you know… not everything I know."

"I'm a Ravenclaw. I could logic out most of that stuff out on my own, thank you."

"Perhaps now would be a _lovely_ time to take that photo of the sleeping children we talked about!" Dinah interrupted, smiling brightly, while Severus seemed to have retracted further into his shell of embarrassment.

"Sure," Sirius said, immune to the minor upset they'd caused with their inability to censor themselves, "but I hope you have a camera. That seems to be the one thing we left behind."

"Oh, please, don't even get her started," Severus poked his head out of the proverbial shell now that the subject seemed to have been safely changed.

"I have three Muggle cameras," Dinah explained.

"Why?" Lucy asked, not understanding the need to have three of the same device.

"They're all a little different, and I just kept the older ones when I got newer," she explained, standing with her husband and gesturing for them to follow her. "Plus one is digital."

"What's a digital?"

Dinah grinned, looking back at Lucy as they walked into the Snapes' bedroom, "'What's digital', you mean. It's an adjective, not a noun. It means, basically, that the camera is run electronically by a small computer." She hurried to hers and Severus's closet and grabbed a stool, standing on it to rummage around in some stuff on a shelf near the top.

"Forgive her lack of magical instincts," Severus told them, smirking.

"We're used to it," Sirius shrugged.

"There it is!" completely oblivious for the time being to the fact that she could have simply _Accio_ed it, Dinah hopped down from her stool and brought the large, black Muggle camera over to Lucy, turning it over and flicking a switch, where a little flat, square thing on the back suddenly turned colorful and showed the inside of the room.

"How's it doing that?" Lucy gasped, "Is it a film?"

"It _can_ be; I can make short ones," she bragged, "But mostly it just shows you what the picture will look like. See?" she aimed the camera at the bed and pushed a button. As it made a noise, the little picture froze in place.

"Oh! That's rather convenient for Muggles I'm sure. Getting to see what the photo will look like before you take it. Saves on film. Doesn't seem to be much of an issue with wizarding pictures being that they move and all but it's still rather ingenious," Lucy praised.

Dinah smiled, then put a finger over her lips, "Let's head over to the nursery and take a picture of the babies. If they're cuddled up together we can use it to embarrass them when they're older."

"They'll hate us for sure," Lucy giggled, quietly following Dinah into the nursery. Owen had finally fallen asleep, flat out on his back, little fists up by his ears. Maylene was flopped over onto her stomach to the left of Owen, her small head turned and her nose just touching the backs of his fingers. "Aww. We have adorable children."

"We do," Dinah murmured, snapping a couple of pictures. "Now, if you two can contain yourselves, how about that game?"

"No guarantees," Lucy said, following her friend back out to the living room. She was glad to have had today to relax, have fun, and enjoy her friends and family. There would be enough stress in her life over the next few days, one day's respite felt like heaven and once the meeting with the Board was over everything would be normal again. She hoped.


	86. Chapter 86

Chapter 86

"I can't do this," Lucy said, pacing the floor of the little trophy room just off the Great Hall. The original intention had been to have this meeting in one of the larger, unused lecture halls at Hogwarts but as she understood it quite a bit more people had shown up than the Board had expected.

"Yes, you can," her husband assured, "You're not alone in this. Grubbly-Plank's got the kids so you don't have to worry about that. I'm here. Dinah and Severus are here. Minerva and the whole staff are behind you…"

"Have you arrived to polish trophies for that detention, then, given your cheeky remarks during Potions class, Miss Ketteridge?" a deep voice sneered from the doorway.

"What?" she screeched, flipping around to face the voice and seeing, for an instant, not her friend Severus but the intimidating Professor Snape. "I don't think they were cheeky. My method was safe and proper and… and _better_ than what was in the book."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "That all depends on context." He glanced at Dinah.

His wife smiled, reaching to take his arm, "Aww, Lucy, I think that was Severus's way of trying to distract you from today's event and put your mind at some ease. So don't get too flustered."

"Oh," she said, eyebrows coming together in thought, "Sorry. Thanks. I appreciate it. I just… got in my head. I didn't see Severus. I saw Professor Snape… you know how sometimes things just snap you right back into the past?"

"Mm, yeah," Dinah gave a solemn nod of agreement.

"That was not quite my intention," Severus admitted, and followed up with a half smile, "However, it is somewhat pleasing to know that my past instruction has made such a strong impression on you."

"It's a compliment to you I suppose," she conceded with a small, almost imperceptible, smile.

"Or something like that," he agreed.

"Hmm," Dinah nodded with her own slight smile, then turned the subject to new matters; "We talked to Lucius. Very briefly, as he didn't want to attract any suspicion from the other Board members, but he believes that he has gotten them quite confused and open-minded, not sure what to think or what their fellow Board members are thinking about the situation. He thinks it will work in your favor, if only in a small way."

"Okay. Good. Um… it's good," Lucy said, beginning to pace again.

"Are you okay?" Dinah asked.

"She's fine," Sirius answered, "Relatively anyway. It's an improvement over the constant tears and utter certainty she's going to be sacked."

"All right," Dinah agreed, "We've just got to make sure we insert our defenses quickly and clearly. These Board Members are looking for something to fill the confused void Lucius left them with. They're going to jump on and absorb whatever logical statement they hear first, I think. So it's imperative that we get in there before the 'enemy' does, so to speak."

"Okay," Lucy nodded, feeling high-strung at the moment, "I just… don't know," she murmured, reaching for the door.

Severus glanced at the clock on the wall, "They will be beginning in ten minutes. Is there specific protocol on when she can enter?" he asked this latter question of Sirius.

"Let's wait a few minutes," Sirius said, reaching out to grab Lucy's hand.

"I don't want to be late, being late looks bad," she protested.

"It only takes thirty seconds to get from here to there. We won't be late."

"Shall we put our ears to the door and eavesdrop?" Dinah suggested with a little smile.

Lucy giggled, "I don't know if that'll help much, but feel free."

Dinah sighed, creeping up to the door and leaning against it; "I don't hear much," she teased.

"Oh good," Lucy nodded, "Maybe they all fell asleep… or they forgot and didn't show up."

Dinah just laughed a little at that, "Unfortunately... "

"No such luck, huh?" Lucy asked, "I suppose it's time to go in then…" She walked up to the door next to where Dinah stood before taking a deep breath and turning to the Snapes, "No matter what happens in there I want you to know that I appreciate everything you've done for…" If she said any more she was going to cry and presenting a red and puffy face to the Board is not the impression she wanted to make.

"Oh, Lucy," Dinah murmured, and even Severus looked subdued. Her friend reached to squeeze her hand, "It's no trouble at all. But no more talking like that! _Nothing_ is going to happen in there, and you certainly aren't walking to your doom. You've still got all of us."

"Good," she smiled, squeezing her friend's hand back, "Now I suppose we'd better go in."

"Mm," Severus frowned, nodding.

Together the four of them walked into the Great Hall seeing the crowd filling nearly every available seat. The Board of Governors sat up where the faculty normally ate, most of them looking down their noses at everyone. At one end sat Lucius; he looked a bit uncomfortable but still seemed to retain the regality and the haughtiness his family was known for. The other end held a woman Lucy was unfamiliar with but she definitely knew the male that caught sight of her and hurriedly finished up his conversation before scuttling into the crowd.

"Mm, he looks quite regal up there, doesn't he?" Dinah murmured, not having noticed the other man and instead nodding up at Lucius. When Severus cleared his throat and raised both eyebrows at her she gave him a sheepish grin and reached over to take his hand, subduing him but only slightly.

"At least he's not wearing a frilly pink dress," Lucy teased, ignoring her father's presence as best she could.

"Oh, way to kill the image, Lucy," Dinah giggled, "Though I'm sure Severus appreciates it."

"A great deal," her husband droned.

"You're welcome," she nodded.

"If you would all take your seats, we would like to begin," said the elderly gentleman sitting in Minerva's chair at the center of the table.

"Let's sit up front," Dinah said, "I think Minerva reserved us all seats near her. If Dumbledore were here... " she trailed off.

"If Dumbledore were here, we wouldn't be doing this at all," Sirius said, "No disrespect to Minerva but the man had a way of getting people to agree to doing things they weren't inclined to do. Again, no disrespect," he repeated with a significant look at Severus.

"I will not say you're wrong," Severus grimaced, "But his insight was knowing that it would be the right thing in the long run, and we would in time come to understand. Which is what these people need," he nodded off at the Board.

"I can think of a few things they need and insight isn't one of them," Sirius muttered as they took their seats.

"They're just treating this case with an ignorant mind like so many in our world have done for so long," Dinah said, reaching in her bag and gathering a bunch of papers together in her lap, "Not that I'm defending them."

"You brought papers to grade?" Lucy asked. She didn't expect Dinah to hang on every word of this 'meeting' but she'd thought it was important enough to not bring things to do.

"Oh, no," Dinah shook her head, patting the stack, "I've gathered together all the best research on psychology and mental illness, in case it's needed. It should provide unequivocal evidence that you aren't crazy and that the treatment you received was inappropriate... if they're willing to listen to Muggle research, of course."

Lucy turned to more fully face her friend, "That must have taken a lot of time."

"I've been working on it a while," she admitted.

"Dinah…" she sighed, extremely touched by the gesture, "That's so nice… thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled, "I want to do what I can."

"I believe we all know why we're gathered here today," the elderly gentleman said, tapping his wand against the table. "It has been deemed necessary that we make a final decision regarding the employability of Mrs. Lucy Black. It is my understanding that many of the accusations stem from a period of time Mrs. Black spent in St. Mungo's mental ward," he added after identifying himself as Asgard Patton.

Next to Lucy, Dinah set her jaw and clutched the papers, looking ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

"My records indicate that Mrs. Black was admitted under her maiden name of Ketteridge soon after the death of her, now husband, Sirius Black."

"No," Lucy said, shaking her head, "That's not true."

"It's not?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her interruption.

"No," she insisted, "I _was_ admitted, but under the name of Lucille. That's not my name. My name is Lucy and it wasn't right after… I was out of the country. I didn't even know for a couple weeks and then I was at my aunt and uncle's home for about a month. And I didn't go to St. Mungo's willingly. I mean I sort of did, but only because I thought we were going home. He promised we were going home."

"And yet they kept you in there for…" the woman at the end of the table consulted her notes, "seven months did they not?"

"That's Laurasia Whittle," Sirius murmured in her ear. He'd been familiarizing himself with information about the Board members when he could but had been able to find little on most of them.

"Oh… um… yes… they did… but I _wasn't_ crazy. I was sad," Lucy insisted.

"Now?" Dinah asked her in undertone, gesturing to the papers in her lap.

"I… uh…" She didn't know what to do, what would be the right thing to do, what decision to make.

"Now," Sirius confirmed.

Dinah nodded, and then cleared her throat, speaking in a firm tone to the Board, "If you'll excuse me; I would like to make a short evidence-based case in favor of Lucy's sanity."

"Go ahead," waved Asgard Patton.

"Thank you," Dinah said, standing and making her way with the papers up to the top of the stage so she was angled half towards the Board on the Staff Table and half towards the audience, "As you probably all know, my name is Professor Dinah Snape and I teach Muggle Studies here at Hogwarts. I am no stranger to this sort of publicity myself, as you may recall from last year around this same time. Thus I feel well-equipped to make a statement in this case. Professor Black and I have been friends since I started here and so, lest you think I am exhibiting any personal bias, I have gathered here a collection of independently-conducted Muggle research studies in the field of psychology and the study of mental illness."

She handed the stack to Laurasia Whittle, who took it a bit doubtfully and began passing them down the line. "Yes, I know that some of you may be a bit leery of Muggle research," Dinah continued, "But unfortunately, I believe that our world is quite behind the Muggles in some areas of psychological practice. Now please don't take this the wrong way. We are very talented at curing people of magically-inflicted mental illnesses, such as backfired memory charms and insanity brought on by magical torture, but it is my opinion that we seem to have overlooked to a significant degree the more basic emotional problems and difficulties that all humans, whether Wizard or Muggle, face on a regular basis in daily life. I believe this is partly because there is an inherent view that our world is so perfect, no one could possibly have any simple difficulties adjusting to the circumstances of their daily lives. But I'm sure you will agree that the past few years of the war have made it abundantly clear our world is far from perfect. I will not get into the specifics of things that I teach in my courses, but my main point is that Wizards are hardly immune to such common afflictions as anxiety, depression, or other basic conditions."

The Board looked over Dinah's papers, most of them not looking very impressed. It was almost as if their minds were already made up and no amount of evidence could prove that she wasn't insane, Lucy thought.

"Allow me to explain some of the highlighted figures," Dinah went on, leaning over their papers and describing how prevalent certain conditions were in humans, while highlighting research showing that mental illness was different from insanity, and how treatments such as simple medication and various forms of what she called 'psychotherapy', or talking things over with a professional, could help people get past or at least control their mental illness and live normal, productive lives. She also pointed to evidence that the support of family and friends was very important, and isolation caused far more harm than good.

"My main point is that Lucy did not receive the proper treatment for her condition. If you look at the symptoms you will see that it is mostly likely she was suffering from a severe depression with some mild symptoms of catatonia, which can be associated with the disorder. In circumstances such as this, she should have received plenty of love and support of family and friends and, if hospitalization _had_ been necessary, it should have been elsewhere, not in a ward full of those people suffering from completely unrelated conditions, and she most certainly shouldn't have been treated using the same methods as those individuals. Unfortunately, St. Mungo's and the Wizarding world are not equipped at this time to deal properly with basic depression. As I've shown, the methods used to treat such illnesses are hardly Muggle-specific. Talk therapy, love and support of family and friends, are all things that could be easily accomplished in the wizarding world as well. And although the medications used to treat such conditions are Muggle, I do not see why spells or potions could not be invented that treat those conditions in the same or similar manner, even improving on them if you would rather," she said, obviously for the sake of those who would not be swayed from the notion that the Wizarding world was superior, "But a basic understanding of the underlying illness is needed, and even medication or a hypothetical magical equivalent is not enough to treat such an illness if the basic cause is not addressed. Professor Black had suffered a terrible loss. Can any of you imagine losing a loved one and having your grief - because that was the underlying cause, grief - having your grief treated by taking you away from everything you know and isolating you in a hospital with mentally unstable or to be less politically correct, 'crazy' individuals, when you yourself were simply in need of a bit of love, compassion, and understanding?"

The group looked mildly impressed but they weren't easy people to please, Lucy was learning. Not that she hadn't known it all along.

"If she was, as you say," Ms. Whittle said, "then why, after seven months, was she deemed able to care for herself when she was previously in need of encouragement to do simple and necessary everyday tasks such as feed ones self or wash."

"It is certainly not unheard of to recover from such things on ones own over time," Dinah allowed, "But I believe she would have recovered much faster in the company of friends and relatives. There is also always the incentive to do anything you can to get out of a situation that is making you miserable. And I don't believe Lucy was happy in St. Mungo's. That is not to say anything negative about the establishment or that the staff there didn't try to do the right things for Lucy that were in their power to do. But as I've already stated, they are not equipped to handle the more basic psychological difficulties. Millions of people suffer from depression in both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. And they are certainly not all 'crazy'."

"But surely to become so depressed over someone you only met barely even a year ago, all while traveling the world… That can't be normal," Cygnus Cresswell suggested.

"We have proof that Sirius was reborn for Lucy," Dinah murmured, "That magic proves a connection between them deeper than any length of time, short or long."

"I know little of this seems logical and that it _was_ an extreme reaction to a horrible situation but…" she turned to look back for a moment, knowing most of the students and Henley were back there. She rose and went to stand next to Dinah. "Love is rarely logical. Can any of you imagine what it must feel like to lose someone you love, only realizing that you love them once they're gone? I didn't know. I couldn't go back but I couldn't go forward. I was stuck. I couldn't face that life. I couldn't be that person, the one who spends the rest of their lives pining for a lost love that they can never replace. That person who never finds a way to be happy, even if it is on their own, who can't even take the chance of letting someone love them because it's not the one they want."

"So you just tried to vanish?" Dinah murmured.

"I suppose so," she nodded, "It seemed easier to be nothing."

"I imagine it would be like a crucial part of yourself was gone... " Dinah trailed, looking over at Severus. She sighed and turned back to the Board, "The point is, grief and insanity are two very different things. I don't know that I need to go on on this subject forever. I'll let Lucy and some of the other staff, or her students, speak as well. But haven't we learned anything from our past yet? About rushing to judge others?" she turned to address the crowd as well, leaving them hanging on this point.

"I'm not trying to pretend that I didn't have a unusual reaction to the circumstances, but that doesn't affect my teaching. My past… has made me who I am but it's not the only thing that defines me. It shouldn't matter… but it does," she stopped for a moment, eyes growing teary, and turned to the Snapes, "I'm sorry Severus but I have to say this," she warned, turning back to the Board, "Almost every single one of you sitting there today trusted Dumbledore, trusted in the things Harry said about Severus enough to forgive him and allow him to be reinstated in his current position. Years ago, they believed in Dumbledore's trust in him enough to pardon him and allow him to teach their children. Dumbledore trusted me too. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"And Dumbledore was right about those things, of course," Dinah seemed to feel the need to add, causing her husband to smirk a bit in the audience.

"That is… true," the elderly Asgard admitted.

"Perhaps you should invite student testimonies?" Dinah suggested, "They are, after all, the people she is teaching. Not their parents."

Agrona immediately hopped up, pulling Derwent and Amedeus to the front with her. "Even though things have started changing I think we'd be naive to say there isn't anymore pure blood bias. Professor Black's a pure blood. It doesn't matter to her but the people who care don't give her respect like they do other pure blood families. That's not the important part though. The thing is last year there were some seventh year boys who were bullying a couple of Muggle borns into doing their homework for them. It was Professor Black who discovered what was going on, though she was Professor Ketteridge at the time. If I remember right she enlisted the help of both Professors Snape to put a stop to it, more so Mr. Professor Snape since he's the head of Slytherin house but either way they put a stop to what was going on and now one of those boys is the Hogwarts Champion. I can't help but think that he wouldn't be in that position now if the bullying had continued." With a brief nod at Lucy, Agrona and the boys went back to their seats, both males having not said a word but their presence was enough.

Jania had started to get up when Septimus unexpectedly hurried up front, beating his classmate to the prime spot. "_I _think we all have a right to know about things like stays in mental wards in our professors' pasts. Mum thinks she's okay but that's only 'cause she married a Black and they're like the best pure blood family or something. I don't know. But I think you guys should also know about her attack dog. It tried to rip my arm off!"

"That dog did no such thing!" Jania yelled, "It probably just dragged you out of a hole where you were snogging your secret girlfriend. Snuffles is a very gentle dog."

"That's not true!" Septimus blustered.

"It is too. He's come to class and slept in the corner. If he was a vicious attack dog I don't think he'd be sleeping."

"I agree!" a small voice piped up, and Lucy saw Mae Yates standing up a bit further back in the crowd, one hand pulling Andrew Speasy up with her and the other one stretched into the air to draw the crowd's attention; "Mr. Black's dog is very sweet."

"See?" Jania asked, looking towards the Board, "Septimus is the only one who thinks the dog is dangerous and I don't know what this has to do with Professor Black's teaching anyway."

"Because it's a stupid class. I don't like it and Mum's making me take it because she says it'll help me get a good career."

"Well... just because you don't like it doesn't make it bad," Mae continued timidly, "Your Mum likes it, doesn't she? Maybe she's right about it helping you get a good career. I think so. I love the class. Professor Black is a wonderful teacher and she never seems unstable or anything like that!" she shook her head from side to side for emphasis, her voice raising again as she gained confidence, "She really loves her subject and we can all tell! Andrew likes the class too, don't you, Andrew?" she nudged her young companion.

"Um... " he began, breaking off for a sneeze which made John Wortham, Porter Lee, and a couple other students snicker before Mae shot them a death glare and they shut up. Lucy wasn't sure whether Andrew's face was flushed with embarrassment, his allergies, or both, but he didn't seem to notice Mae's glare as he went on, "I like it. It's interesting."

"Thank you," Lucy said, voice thick with emotion.

_Now_ the boy was clearly red from embarrassment, giving a brief nod and sitting back down. But his young friend spoke for him, "You're welcome. I know most people enjoy the class. There is a lot of discussion and everyone seems interested in ours, I know. Maybe students can raise their hands if they like the class?" she asked, turning to the rest of her peers.

One by one hands poked into the air. Lucy knew many of the hands belonged to students who weren't in her classes but she'd interacted with many of them in one way or another. It was… astonishing that so many of them would raise their hands in support of her. It almost didn't seem real to her.

"All right," Asgard said, motioning for the students to go back to their places, "We have ascertained that the majority of students enjoy Mrs. Black's class. Thank you. However, that does little in establishing her suitability for the job and while the issue of the dog has no bearing on her said suitability it does concern me that she would keep a potentially dangerous animal so close to the students."

"I… um… it's…" she stumbled, glancing over at Sirius. This is just the type of situation she'd been afraid of. Lying to the Board would be bad, but she absolutely _couldn't_ reveal Sirius as an Animagus either.

"It's me," Sirius said, standing up and coming over to grab her hand.

"You mean it's your dog?" Asgard asked.

"No. I mean _I'm_ the dog," he corrected.

"No… don't…" Lucy whispered, feeling panic well up inside her.

His thumb rubbed across her wrist as he continued, "I'm an Animagus. I registered a couple weeks ago. I should have registered last year, yes, but with all the upheaval from the war still going on it wasn't really possible. All of that's on record and okayed by the Ministry if you'd like to check."

"You…" Lucy said, shocked, "A couple weeks ago?"

Her husband shrugged, "I thought it might come up today."

She didn't dare say or show too much right then. As far as the Board could know she'd known all about this, they hadn't had a fight about registration, he hadn't been an illegal Animagus for years…

"That is all beside the point," said a deep and familiar voice from the back of the room, "She _was_ institutionalized. It shouldn't matter if the students like her. If we let children make all the decisions we'd be living in a world filled with candy and rainbows. Obviously enough people are concerned about this that we need to have this review. Would any of our ideas change if we also knew that Dumbledore allowed the convicted murderer, Sirius Black, into the castle, to stay with that woman because she couldn't make it a couple weeks without him. She had panic attacks and heard the voices of dead people."

"Did you even hear a damn thing I said?" Dinah suddenly shot up out of her seat and whirled on Henley before Lucy had a chance to think about trying to respond, "You know nothing about mental illness and she was only institutionalized because _you_ put her there! And is that any way for a father to refer to his daughter? 'That woman'?"

She turned to the Board and pointed back at Henley, "If he thinks that little of her then how can you trust his choice in institutionalizing her? It's clear he doesn't have her best interests at heart - only his!"

"Obviously you don't have her best interests at heart either. If all these people are here because they question her ability to be a guardian of these students _and_ her mental stability then perhaps there is some actual validity to their concerns. I'd also add that if she's not trusted to care for mostly grown children I think we should also question her ability to care for an infant of her own."

As Henley spoke Lucy felt herself shrink, become the person she'd always been around her father, meek and insecure. But then he mentioned Owen, even though it was indirectly, and she did something she'd never truly done with her father before. She got angry. "Who are you to judge how I parent my child? You never wanted to be a parent and you never acted like one. Mum was killed, _murdered_, when I was nine years old and you never told me. No, it was Aunt Molly. You didn't have to tell me she'd been killed but you could have at least told me she'd died. My husband, Sirius, and my friend, Severus, they both had pretty crappy parents but at least they cared enough to hate them. Maybe that would have made my life easier if you'd at least have cared enough to hate me but you never even cared that much. Why? All I ever wanted was for you to _care_, but you couldn't do it. _Why_? What is wrong with me that you don't care? I never did… I never did anything to you…" she gasped, flicking tears off her cheeks.

"Lucy…" Sirius sighed, coming over and wrapping his arms around her, his back to Henley, "There is nothing wrong with you. Some people are just incapable of caring for anything but themselves and they miss out on some pretty special people."

"Don't you see?" Dinah offered a plea to the Board of Governors, "Who are you listening to? Why are you having this hearing? Because of a bunch of articles written by Rita Skeeter which started up a lot of useless hype? Because of the words and actions of a father who doesn't care a fig for his daughter? Are those really good reasons to be here and condemn a woman who has done nothing to deserve such condemnation?" She turned to glare at Henley, "By the way, although I haven't printed off the paperwork for it, other research has shown that students are a fairly good gauge of the quality of their teachers. No, they aren't adults and they don't always make the same quality judgments as adults but they are the ones who see her every day and learn from her. _Not_ their parents."

"I do not say much in regards to the judgment of my fellow faculty," Severus spoke for the first time, standing next to his wife and giving Henley a cold glare, "But for her age and given everything she has faced I do believe Lucy is a highly capable educator. You might even learn something from her if you ever bothered to listen. Also, despite your obvious neglect she has somehow managed to become a good person and one worth knowing. And a friend," he added, turning to look straight at Lucy, then to the Board of Governors, "And given her statement that her upbringing was somewhat like my own, I will concur that, but also point out that she kept her goodness throughout while I took years to regain mine. And I am still standing here and teaching at this school, am I not?"

Lucy hugged Sirius tight for a moment then went over to Severus and squeezed him, her arms around his shoulders and hands against his hair to hold him close. "Thank you," she whispered.

He stiffened and flinched a little as a couple cameras clicked in the crowd, seeming to instinctively try and take a step back before he relaxed and let his arms wrap around her and hug her back. He even squeezed a little, but not for long, reaching to remove her hands from his hair and keeping them in his for a moment as he nodded at her, "You're welcome. Next I suppose you'll have me saying that I like you," his lips quirked into the slightest smile.

"Well, you do you know," she teased, returning the smile.

"I've given you too much today already. That admission shall have to be saved for another time," he teased, before turning serious, "You know you must move forward now. You will never forget it, the feeling of being mistreated, but you can move forward. End this," he said, releasing her hands and nodding in the direction of Henley, as Dinah wiped happy tears from her cheeks and reached in to embrace her husband.

Rather than turning to Henley, Lucy turned to the Board, "I am… emotional, especially when I'm pregnant as I recently discovered. I… tend to babble when I'm nervous and I get very attached to the people I care about. My reaction to Sirius's death was extreme, yes, but it hasn't affected my ability to teach any more than being on bed rest due to stress over this investigation did. If you want to have someone check in on me occasionally to make yourselves and the parents feel better then fine. I love my job and I'd really rather keep it if I could," she turned and looked directly at Laurasia Whittle, "I saw you talking to Henley when I came in. I assume the two of you are something of an item given the way you were interacting. You should know my mother made one mistake in her marriage, she got pregnant, and Henley never let her forget it. He's a hard man to live with and if you fall below his expectations he will make you feel like dirt, less than dirt even. I'm also reasonably sure that he was the one giving out all that information about my past to the papers. If none of that bothers you, if you're okay with that… well, then I hope you make each other happy."

Laurasia gasped and turned very red but didn't say anything. There really wasn't much she could say in response to Lucy, especially as the doors slammed behind them when Henley stormed out.

"Wow," Dinah murmured, "This has taken quite the turn." She looked optimistic, even impressed.

"I wonder if I might add something to this discussion?" someone, clearly a parent asked. "I must admit that I did initially have my reservations about adding a literature course to the Hogwarts curriculum, but my daughters loved it. I thought it was a frivolous subject but my own children are showing me just how much you can learn from fiction. Things about other cultures and the way others interpret different issues and express them through characters in a book. If we all took the time to read a book and not just read it but look for the deep meanings maybe we wouldn't be here today debating the stability of someone who, in the last few hours, has shown both vulnerability and strength, not mental instability."

"But that's missing the point," another woman interrupted before Lucy could respond. She stood a bit further down in the same row as the woman who had just spoken, "Mentally stable or not, doesn't suspicion still surround Professor Black? Even if her father is an unsavory character, if he was right about Sirius Black being allowed into the school to stay with her all last year... I'm sorry, but that is quite dishonest. I want to know what sorts of situations my Lisette is being exposed to here at Hogwarts. And haven't the Blacks and Snapes been involved in suspicious activities over the past two years and during the wars as well? The men both have unsavory histories and the other woman is a Parselmouth... how can we be sure our children are safe here? Even if their activities have been pardoned there is still cause for suspicion. No one was there on the night Sirius Black supposedly _didn't_ commit those murders for which he was held responsible for over ten years. No one can verify that the female Professor Snape has never used her ability to speak to snakes for unsavory purposes, and it is a _fact_ that her husband was once a Death Eater, regardless of Dumbledore's choice to let him teach here. Professor Black is close to them all, inextricably entwined with their lives. If you ask me, it is risky to allow anyone with a questionable past to teach at Hogwarts. Look how many Defense Against the Dark Arts professors had questionable pasts and were proven to be unsuitable choices. My Lisette tells me she feels uncomfortable around these professors. That they are untrustworthy."

"But that's not true!" Mae Yates exclaimed, shooting up in her seat again.

"Mae!" Lisette hissed, standing up as well, looking offended.

"I'm sorry! But I have to say something! Mrs. Jorkins, Lisette only feels that way because of all the things you just said, that she hears from you all the time. The Blacks and the Snapes aren't untrustworthy! You loved Mrs. Professor Snape's class until you found out she was a parselmouth! Nothing really changed, just in your own head. And all those issues from last year are in the past, too. Professor Black was never involved with dark magic, anyhow... so what does it matter if some of her friends were? And Mr. Black was pardoned by the Ministry, and no one cares that Mrs. Professor Snape is a parselmouth anymore. It's like she always says, we have to learn from the past. We can't be suspicious of everyone forever. Even Mr. Professor Snape is really a nice man once you get to know him."

"You're just biased 'cause they named their baby after you!" Lisette retorted.

Mae made a little squeaking noise and turned bright red with embarrassment, sitting back down, seeming to realize that she'd said too much.

"I think that was nice of them," Andrew said from next to Mae, blowing his nose.

"But you're a Slytherin!" Lisette protested.

"Now, now, enough! We mustn't get off track and fight amongst ourselves!" Dinah scolded the students, as Lisette and her mother both sat down. Lucy's friend turned back to the Board, "But it is true, we should learn from our pasts. We would have lost a great many more people in the Battle of Hogwarts had the Slytherins not left and returned with reinforcements. Seventy-five percent of the students in that house ended up helping - three quarters! Only around twenty-five percent sided with Voldemort and these are facts that were reported in our own Wizarding media. House biases must stop. That's why I've been setting up these game nights this year, in spite of some parents' protests, and you allowed that," she reminded them. "Professor Black has been so instrumental in helping me to do so. I know Lucy isn't as passionate about the game nights as I am. I do. But that hasn't stopped her from helping me out as often as she can, and her help has proven indispensible. I'm not perfect," she admitted, "I've had my own issues, as those two young people just illustrated, and we adults can be vulnerable. We have our own insecurities. There have been days when I've not been sure I could handle the game nights but Lucy was always there to encourage me. During one incident when there were students complaining she, in the midst of her pregnancy and all the hormones we both had to deal with at that time, was instrumental in mediating the situation when I was too frozen and insecure to do so myself. I admit that. We worked together. Lucy is indispensible to this school and her help with the game nights, her insightful forays into the literature to help us better understand ourselves and others as our first parent illustrated, goes a long way in helping us heal from all those past scars and prejudices. And if you sack her I'm afraid I am going to be a very angry and disagreeable staff member at Hogwarts for a very long time to come," she declared, putting on a stern face and folding her arms across her chest.

"I wouldn't test her on that statement," Severus smirked.

"Well, now I don't think it's time to get angry just yet," Asgard smiled, "Perhaps it's time to call for a vote." When the old man called for the Board to vote everyone, including Laurasia, voted not to sack Lucy.

They'd done it. She wasn't being sacked! Dinah squealed at the same time Lucy did, but rather than acknowledging her friend, she ran up to where her husband was standing and threw her arms around him as he lifted her up and spun her around.

"I told you," he murmured in her ear.

"Thank you," she said, nodding to the Board and then again to the gathered crowd before waving for the Snapes to follow as she tugged Sirius out of the Great Hall and back to their rooms.

In their rooms, Lucy took charge, closing their door and pushing Sirius down on the sofa for a very thorough snogging before Dinah and Severus arrived.

"You were banking on us walking quite a good deal slower than you, weren't you?" Severus's voice said from the doorway, thick with sarcasm.

"Only a bit," Lucy grinned, sitting up, "but not to worry we're properly attired."

"He's getting used to you two now, I think," Dinah laughed, smiling at her husband and coming over to flop into a chair with a happy sigh, "I knew it would be all right. Thank God it's over though, huh?"

"_Yes_," Lucy nodded, "Would you mind thanking Lucius for us? I'd appreciate it. I just… didn't want to be in there anymore."

"Oh, we did just walk out without saying anything to him, didn't we?" Dinah looked over at her husband, who simply shrugged in response. She smiled, "No matter. He probably wanted to get out of there, too. Of course we'll send him a letter of thanks."

"Thank you," Lucy said, moving and letting Sirius sit up, "I don't know if there's anything you want to do… I just thought you should come with us. It seems like the type of thing families should celebrate together."

"Oh, that is so sweet," Dinah murmured, clutching a hand to her heart, "Thank you. You know, you were amazing today," she smiled, "I think I might have seen the Lucy I always knew was in there and wanted so much to meet."

"You did," Sirius said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her temple, "That's my Lucy."

"Stop it," she blushed, grinning, "You're embarrassing me."

"Oh, I think it's sweet," Dinah grinned, "And wonderful. And something we should celebrate with food."

"Why am I not surprised?" Lucy teased, ordering up plenty of food from the Hogwarts kitchens.

"Oh, I don't _need_ the food but I think it was a nice addition since we're celebrating everything going back to normal, huh?" she asked, taking a slice of pie.

"I don't think I _can_ eat," Lucy giggled, "After all, Severus more or less admitted he likes me."

"Hmph," Severus snorted, looking away, his face flushed.

"Oh, let's not dwell on that and embarrass him," Dinah chuckled, "But I agree, that was such a precious moment... they snapped pictures, too. Poor Sev," she teased, patting her husband's hand.

"I thought you said you were going to change the subject," her husband snarled at her.

"Oh yes, well... " she frowned, then her eyes lit up, "Sirius, let's talk about your big revelation. So now that the whole world knows you're Snuffles, what's next? I imagine the students will be talking about it... Agrona, Jania, Mae... surely Septimus. That was quite the surprise."

"I can't believe I knew nothing about it," Lucy said.

"Mm," Dinah agreed, "It's a good thing, though."

"I… thought it might come up and it would be best to have a solid and somewhat truthful explanation," Sirius nodded.

"You're good to me," Lucy sighed, snuggling up against her husband.

"You're good _for_ me," he replied, holding her tighter to him as she leaned her head against Sirius's shoulder and closed her eyes, secure in the knowledge that everything was finally right in her world.


End file.
